Do Not Misinterpret Instant Polls

Following President Bush’s nationwide address on immigration Monday night, the Opinion Research Center launched an instant poll for CNN to measure the public’s reaction to the president’s speech.

Today’s washingtonpost.com’s political blog looks at instant polling and recommends that such polls not be used for drawing sweeping conclusions.

Chris Cillizza, author of The Fix, writes that the people who watch a speech and then participate in a survey about it are not necessarily representative of the voting public at large.

Cillizza also says public opinion often does not crystallize until people have had a chance to absorb the media's coverage of the event, discuss it with friends and attempt to square it with any previous knowledge they might have on the topic.

You can read Cillizza’s entire article here.  The results of CNN's instant poll is available here.