I remember seeing a sign to this effect at a Mondale rally in '84.  Walter
Mondale was trailing behind badly in the polls behind Reagan and this supporter
of his was using this sign to encourage other supporters into believing the
cause wasn't hopeless.

Of course we can say that this person was a fool. But I was just reflecting
recently on just how many polls I've seen, some daily with hundreds of
questionees.  Should I have been polled by now?  I'm wondering what exactly
would be the mathematically expected rate of phone-ringing for a poll that the
average person should expect.  The rate expected before one can start to believe
the polls are biased against some part of their demographic (such as having no
one home during business hours, being in a non-"Neilsen" neighborhood, etc.).

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