George,

Welcome home!

Let me comment on Mr. Ross's letter regarding polls viewed by Sean Hannity.

One cannot spend his/her time whiling away at poll numbers as Bill Clinton did. I constantly see polls leaning one way or another and when you really look at the details you find that Bush and Kerry are at, let's say 45% for Bush and 49% for Kerry.

The fine print shows that the is a +/- 3% margin. So we really learn nothing here, it could be 48% (45+3) Bush and 46% (49-3) Kerry.

We also learn that the pollster polled 356 likely voters. Maybe they will vote, maybe they won't. It sure is a small sampling. Come election day, it's still going to be almost 50%-50% so forget the polls.

What I suggest Mr. Ross and other poll gawkers do is read more news - avoid the polls (especially on election day ;) ). Don't always take news you read and like as fact - read more. Do your own investigating. I will bet Mr. Ross and most of your readers don't trust what they read in the Washington Times or on NewsMax. They probably don't trust what they see and hear on The Rush Limbaugh Show, Sean Hannity's show or Fox News Channel.

Even though I personally like these media outlets, I still do my research before coming to a decision on what is reported and what is fact.

And by the way, I took a sampling of likely voters at home and at work and Bush IS the frontrunner. :)

Will Lyster (R) (electronic mail, August 3, 2004)