It can be as blatant as buying an alcoholic a drink or as nuanced as the push-pull dance of conditional love. Politicians have enablers too. They are called pollsters, and they often admit, if not brag, that they enable candidates to keep in touch with the voters. That sounds innocuous enough, perhaps even useful for democratic governance. But public opinion polling has a dark side which lies at the heart of Washington gridlock and sound-bite election campaigns.
Polls encourage insincerity, divisiveness and hate mongering.
They have become an addictive drug which now works against democracy and the public good. This is a person who likes to be liked, and needs to be liked a lot on Election Day. At first, this is the sort of habit a candidate can quit anytime she likes, but before long she is hooked. Soon the magic numbers mean more than a clean conscience, and a spin doctor is called to ease the pain. When our democracy was young, leaders proclaimed their beliefs and their plans, and were elected or not.