, Columnist
What Do Those 2020 Polls Tell Us?
Early presidential surveys should be treated with caution. But they can still be revealing.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
Photographer: Paul Ratje/AFP
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Now that the midterms have passed, media norms dictate that it’s okay to devote more attention to the Democratic presidential nomination contest, so now we’re starting to get some early polls. There’s one from the Des Moines Register for Iowa and a national survey from CNN. Do they mean anything?
We’re probably a bit more than a year away from the Iowa caucuses. Hardly any voters are engaged at this point, and no one knows which candidates will even make it to the point where voters get their say. Perhaps the best advice about these preference numbers, then, is to just ignore them.