1. National and State Polling in the 2008 Presidential Election Travis N. Ridout Washington State University

3. The Electoral College 538 electoral college votes Each state has 2+number of House seats 270 needed to win

5. Some problems with polls Lack of surveys Quality of pollsters

6. New Problems in 2008 Who will turn out to vote? - African-American turnout - Effect of mobilization - Young people Bradley Effect Cell phone-only users

9. Other Developments Polling has become almost instantaneous More ubiquitous than ever