I keep seeing "polls" that have Romney and Obama close.

[Archae]

In reality, Romney has as much real chance, as the proverbial snowball in hell.

So why does so many in the media keep reporting these "polls" that have Obama and Romney close?

Is it the ratings (and money) factor, they get more ratings from this supposed "conflict?"

[SoutherDem]

2. Good point.

It is much easier to explain how the polls could be off by 2% than 12%.

[RC]

8. We have those electronic voting machines and and "discredited" exit polls for a reason.

But they do not have total control yet. Other wise Romney would be ahead in all the polls, not neck and neck.
In the real world, Romney would not be able to buy his way on the ballot.

[truebrit71]

10. ^This is the correct answer...

...and one we all need to be leery of....because after 2000 and 2004 they're getting good at it..

[AverageJoe90]

14. Although, with a great enough lead by us Dems......

Any attempts to steal the election would be blown out of the water anyhow.

[KurtNYC]

3. it is like the Superbowl - they don't care who wins they just want a close game

I don't think it is money although more will be spent if it is close. I think it is the MSM obsession with numbers. They like to talk about poll numbers as if that is all there is -- it avoids talking about any issues or details. And the numbers always change so they can sit there for their 4 hours slot and spin on what allegedly moved the number.

[hollysmom]

4. I don't do polls

I keep getting called for them, but I refuse to answer - i am a scaredy cat who doesn't know if these are real pollsters or just someone trying to steal my personal information

[center rising]

5. It is close statistically, but...

In the electoral college vote, Obama has a solid lead.

[Comrade Grumpy]

13. Yes, it's the electoral college that counts, not a nationwide popularity poll.

It's looking better for Obama in the electoral college than in the national popularity polls.

[siligut]

6. Romney shouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell.

But he has money and strategy. It sucks. I also hate to, but have to agree with bupkis. We can't rule out that voter purges and voter machines lacking verifiable paper back up will have an effect in November.

[SheilaT]

7. I think to say that polls are deliberatly being manipulated

so that the election will be easier to steal, simply isn't true.

The apparent closeness of the polls stems more from the desire to push the "horse race" aspect. In addition, the reality of this country is that we are somewhat evenly divided if you simply ask people if they are a Democrat or a Republican. Of course, there are those that register as independents or even with various other political parties, but since voting for anyone other than a D or an R at the presidential level is an exercise in futility, we can ignore those people.

In truth, very many Americans will vote against their own economic self-interest, because they either watch too much Fox News, or because they are social conservatives, they honestly don't understand what it means if they vote for the Republicans.

It's my personal opinion that in the end, it won't really be all that close, even though we will be told it's going to be a cliff-hanger down to 10pm Eastern Time on November 6.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. Making this yawner a "close race" sells more Doritos and beer.

Romney's only chance of winning would be if ran against himself and rigged the election.

Older White Males as a base is no longer big enough to win on.

[thelordofhell]

11. The media needs the money

The media needs to keep it close so they can rake in all that SuperPac ad money

[RZM]

12. Perhaps the least interesting and most obvious answer is the correct one

That the race is kind of close and many of the polls are showing that. The idea that these polls are being manipulated rests on the belief that the 'real' situation is one where the president is way up. That's an odd assumption to make when the economy isn't doing all that great. That usually hurts an incumbent, whether or not they are responsible for the downturn.

It's going to be fairly close. I'd be surprised if the president gets more than about 51 percent of the vote. He's probably going to win, but it's not going to be easy.

[AverageJoe90]

15. I have to agree with the majority of the people here.

Many of the polls definitely seem like they very well could be deceptive. Right now, Romney's really hurting thanks to his numerous gaffes and quite frankly, blatant hypocrisy, not to mention his extreme positions on certain issues have actually alienated many more moderate Republicans, some of whom won't be voting for him at all this year.

This definitely looks like a ploy for higher ratings, at the very least. Unfortunately, there are, sadly, some people who actually DO end up believing the bullshit.

[onenote]

16. +1

Anyone who assumes that this isn't a close race is fooling themselves. Where it will be in two or three months is utterly unpredictable at this point. We don't even know who Romney's running mate is, we haven't had either national convention and there haven't been any debates. While we can hope we know how all of those things will turn out, one can never be certain who is going to make a slip up that turns out, rightly or wrongly, to be a big deal. If you don't believe that to be the case ,you are ignoring history.

[craigmatic]

17. They have to sell the horse race or the repubs will call them liberal. I don' think itr's close at

in the electoral college.