the silent majority and called silent becouse they don't vote and they don't answer polls
actually dan, in 2004, 72% of all people eligible, were registered to vote. so, the "silent majority" you cling to does not exist.
and furthermore, 89% of those people actually did vote. and the total number of people that did vote vs. those eligible is well over 50%. so again, any way you slice it, this "silent majority" is a figment of your imagination.
and let's even say, for the sake of argument, that only 49% of eligible voters voted in 2004. for your group to actually exist, even then, it would have to be every single person who didn't vote. and you mean to tell me that every single person who chooses not to do their duty as citizens and vote avoid it for exactly the same reason?
Nonsense!
and dan, polls are a sampling of a given population. they are not a census. there are formulas that determine how many people represent a fair and scientific sample. even then, any given poll has what is called a margin of error. usually about 3 or 4 points.
that's why when say one candidate has 45% of a vote in a poll and his opponent has 41% in the poll, and the margin of error is 4 points, it is called a statistical "dead heat." meaning it is within that margin of error and the poll "admits" being wrong up to that margin.
but you seem to suggest that polls are wildly off. and some polls can be. such as exit polling. like in ohio in 2004. but ohio's exit polling and the methods used there and the misuse of the info by pundits is hardly a measure on how other, more scientific polling is done.
polls are not 100% accurate for sure. but they are hardly what you make them out to be either. polls are useful as a "snapshot" of the general mood or to track trends in the right contexts.
