Why should we just complain about the Zogby Polls? They are open to all comers! How many of us would it take to bring the Zogby Online Poll back from its outlier status? Sign up now and let your voice be heard. [There is a caution, however.]
Nate Silver at 538 has given us the information we need. He said:
Zogby, however, also conducts Internet-based polls. These polls are conducted among users who volunteer to participate in them, first by signing up at the Zogby website (you can do so yourself here) and then by responding to an e-mail solicitation. These Internet polls, to the extent they rely on voluntary participation, violate the most basic precept of survey research, which is that of the random sample. And as you might infer, they obtain absolutely terrible results.
The address to link to the Zogby Online Polls is http://interactive.zogby.com/...
Now, as Nate notes, the Zogby Internet polls violate the polling precept of random sampling. They invite participation by people with a particular viewpoint to push.
Which might describe many of us.
But if Zogby wants to follow the sampling model of American Idol, then why shouldn't we join them?
And if our participation has the result of further diminishing--or even demolishing--the already diminished standing of the Zogby polls, then so much the better.
[There is a caution, however. One participant noted that as soon as they signed up for Zogby, they started getting e-mails from The Washington Times. Probably just a coincidence, but just be advised.]