Ask the Pollsters
By Karen Fannning

	President Bush helps fill in erosion damage with volunteers during a visit to the Santa Monica Mountains in California last August. The visit was to promote his healthy-forest initiative. Bush is courting the environmental vote, which is one of the areas he has been weakest in. (Photo: Gerald Herbert/AP Wide World)

You've made the rounds on TV's top political shows. You've traveled coast to coast, taking your message on the road. Now, you want to know where you stand with voters. It's time to call in the pollsters.

By conducting national surveys, pollsters can determine how your vision for America matches up with the needs and concerns of voters. Based on information supplied by pollsters, you can then develop a campaign strategy that will maximize your chances of winning the Oval Office.

"We take a very hard look at what issues concern people the most, how they view how things are going in the country, and what would make their lives better," says Ed Goeas, president and CEO of The Tarrance Group, one of the nation's most successful Republican strategy teams. "Every politician walks in with some strengths and weaknesses. The American public has issues that concern them. We collect the intelligence on where our troops are and where their troops are and what it's going to take to win the battle."

Pollsters like Goeas will randomly select 1,000 Americans to ask them a series of questions. Do they believe the country is headed in the right direction? What's the most important issue to their family? Do they have a favorable or unfavorable impression of you as a candidate?

Answers to these questions will then be broken down by gender, age, geography, race, and other categories. Based on that data, you will be able to determine where your strongest support lies and with which groups you need to better communicate your message.

For example, you might learn that while you are popular among older Americans, your message isn't reaching younger voters. Because these voters are most likely to get their information from the Internet or on the radio, you may decide to start advertising more heavily on the airwaves and the Web.

Beware of relying too heavily on the polls. You must not abandon your principles just to please the public. It's important for you to make decisions based on what you think is right even if the majority of your fellow Americans disagree.

One last thing: Valuable information doesn't come cheap. Each national poll will set you back about $50,000. But if the data helps you get one step closer to the White House, it's worth every penny!