Dole lost by much less than expected. The alternative is to scatter votes between several candidates, which makes it much harder to figure out what the outcome would be. Because of the news media's apparent fascination with covering political events, polls are vital to reporters because they provide quick access to election data. Debates don't happen every day, but there are always poll results. Polls are also popular with the average American voter.
People are inherently curious.
In the same way people want to know about anything, people wonder how candidates are doing in elections. Though both voters and politicians weigh poll results heavily when making their respective political decisions, poll results are rarely 100-percent reliable, according to Berinsky. For example, Internet polls, though easily administered, are often very inaccurate because respondents do not make up a random sample. Berinsky agreed that Internet poll results are not equally representative of both major political parties. Both Berinsky and Newport agreed, however, that many newspapers and polling organizations produce accurate and representative poll results.