University of Illinois Springfield Professor: Watch out for political polling as Pres. election inches closer

Posted on September 20, 2024

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Cut through the noise when you listen, watch, or read news. That is the advice of a University of Illinois Springfield professor who directs a graduate program in public affairs reporting.

Jason Piscia, on a recent panel discussion at UIS, says – Watch out for polls!

“National polls are not how we select presidents,” said Piscia, a former newspaperman. “Realize that the media will overplay a poll that has an unexpected outcome. If Trump is ahead in some state you didn’t expect him to be ahead in, the national media will blow that poll up.”

Piscia and others on the panel said the seven battleground states are really the only ones which matter in the Trump-Harris race.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year. It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…