Disenfranchised?

I'm getting to hate the idea of political polls before the election. I long for the days of the Pony Express, when we wouldn't know much about what was going on in Washington unless we'd actually seen a candidate out stumping his message for ourselves. Yes, I know, there were papers, but I am of the belief that I would not have read them.

Imagine: not even knowing for sure who was elected until days after the election! ...Oh, wait....

Anyway, in what I can only assume is an effort to further frustrate me personally, USA Today is posting Gallup's criteria for determining who is a "likely voter" in a quiz-type format on this page. Just seven little questions, but they're changing the way we all think, I can guarantee. For example, I was pissed to discover that, according to the way I answered my first time through, I am apparently not likely to vote... even though, on the last question, I ranked myself a 10, meaning I am someone who definitely will vote. I don't get it.

My mind bends (to the left, of course), trying to parse this information. How many of us are not likely voters, according to Gallup? Is it 50-50 among Kerry supporters and Bush supporters -- in which case this makes no difference -- or is there some subset of the nation that collectively would support one candidate over the other but is not being represented in any of Gallup's polls, simply because they're not considered likely to vote?!

But all of this serves to demonstrate my point: IT DOESN'T MATTER. In 2000, the polls had monkey-boy ahead by several points this many days before the election* but Gore won the popular vote... but monkey-boy won the electoral college.

So it doesn't matter.

Ow. Brain hurts.