In a now infamous poll from Pew Research Center, 18% of Americans claimed that President Obama is a Muslim. As shocking as those numbers are, it's a good reminder of exactly what opinion polls are, opinions. More than that, they are non-expert opinions. Even more than that, they are non-expert opinions on issues that are mostly opinion. What is Obama's religion? Are in for a double-dip recession? How likely is another major terrorist attack? All of these questions are are pure speculation.
In a democracy, I can understand the desire to know the opinions of the people, but we aren't a democracy, we are a republic. This is an important distinction in understanding sensitive issues like religion or the recent controversy over gay marriage in California. For the purpose of law, it doesn't matter what a majority of Californians voted for, the government is restricted by the Constitution. The courts claimed that limiting marriage in this way violated the right to equal protection and due process. Now, whether those clauses were interpreted correctly is a different matter.
Another final reason why I'm weary of pollsters is how important the wording of question are. For issues like gay rights there are red flag words that can get desired results. For example most Americans oppose same-sex "marriage", but half support "civil unions". Depending on which word is used, results vary significantly. This not only shows bias in pollster agenda, but just how blurry many political lines are. Opinion polls may be valuable for politicians trying to understand their constituents, but voters shouldn't concern themselves with them.
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