As an official, longtime member of the hand-wringers' society here on dailykos, a political junkie and, worst of all, a poll junkie, all of the ups and downs with the polling lately has been, of course, driving me crazy and getting me all anxious. It's what we poll junkies and hand-wringers do.
But over the past few days, something different's been happening. It occurs to me that there is nothing that can be done by me about these polls...except, of course, to get out there and get my hands dirty and start doing something positive to try to benefit the President's reelection actively in order to do my best to influence future polls as much as any one human being can.
So...
...after yet another day of frustration, looking at things like Gallup showing Romney with a six point lead, on average, over the past seven days, Rasmussen, with Mittch-A-Sketch Romney ahead by a point after the race being tied yesterday, a new poll showing Ohio possibly being as close as a point, according to PPP, and a few other polls that make me feel somewhat better...
...well...the hand-wringing was about to start again. But then it occurred to me...the last time this happened, earlier in the week, instead of getting all frustrated about the way things were, the thought came: why not just make more calls on behalf of President Obama?
And, after doing that, it made me feel a whole lot better to the point where it no longer mattered what the polls showed...nothing bothered me any longer. The angst with the ups and downs of polling went away...by just doing more phone banking for the President.
Regardless of the outcome of this race, it makes one feel better that you're at least doing as much as is humanly possible to help. It's also a far better usage of energy than sitting around moping about the way things should be compared to what they actually are. In fact, it's downright envigorating to just simply get out there and do something.
So...my new prescription for myself is as follows: Even when the polls are looking good, don't just sit there, but celebrate and do something about it by committing to make X number of calls (at least 25, say). It will channel that good-feeling energy into something even more productive. And when the polls aren't looking so good, commit to make even more calls (at least say 30-50, say). It, too, is a great way to channel all of that energy.
So, my new motto is: When the polls are up...make a few more calls. When the polls are down, make a lot more calls.
And you know what? It's working.
Am not a doctor (and don't play one on TV either), but here's my prescription anyway, for all of my fellow hand-wringers and poll junkies out there:
When the polls are down, make some calls for Obama and call me in the morning.
When the polls are up, make some more calls for Obama and call me in the morning.
It works for me. Maybe it will work for you, too.
It sure can't hurt.