Polls are a great indication of what people think RIGHT NOW.

Chances are, the polls the day before the election will be accurate to within 2 to 5%, depending on how good the polling firm is.

A poll purports to tell you something about the population at large, or at least the population from which the sample was drawn. But the results of a poll in which thousands of people participate cannot be extrapolated to anything, because those results tell you only about the opinions of those who participated. Therefore, they're not an accurate measure of public opinion.

Like I said I don't think they're are totally useless but I don't trust them because they are somewhat inaccurate. And you have to factor in respondent honesty, socioeconomic bias, and etc. I understand what you're saying but I thought you of all people should know that you should not take polls so seriously.

Yes they are. Polls are ststistically weighted to reflect the country at large. Stereotypes are sometimes useful. As I brought up before, a 40-year-old single black woman who goes to church every week makes $40,000 a year and is registered decmorat will probably vote the same as another 40-year-old single black woman who goes to church every week makes $40,000 a year and is registered democrat.