Who Asked You?

Reading my favorite section of the NYTimes this past Sunday, "Week in Review," has left my wheels spinning. The front page article was entitled, The Label Factor: Is Obama a Wimp or a Warrior? As you might have guessed, the columnist was attempting to evaluate where Obama stands in the rankings up to this point in time, especially with regard to previous presidents. In particular, she was evaluating Obama's aggressiveness with regard to foreign policy. I realize that said columnist has not invented the wheel, as it were. Nor is she necessarily advocating for opinion polls. However, my question remains: why are opinion polls a valid measure for the work of the President of the United States?

As defined by the OED, an opinion is, "a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty." If the word "judgement" doesn't give it away, the nod to the lack of certainty should make it clear that opinions are stand alone entities. They should not be compiled and classified, as though they have been unified for coherency. I also think that opinion polls fail to truly provide any form of evaluation, which consists of a diagnosis and study of the situation or person. Disguising an opinion poll as a true evaluation of performance is deceptive and simply not true. But then again, I'm also operating with the hope that people do not vote for candidates based on how much they are liked, rather than a true evaluation of policies and records.

Appropriate instances in which opinion polls should be used as a measure for success include Figure Skating and American Idol.

And that's my opinion on the matter.