Opinion polls

There is some amount of discussion political arena, in the last week or two, over opinion polls. In the US, President Bush's polls are the lowest of his presidency. In the UK, Prime Minister Gordon Brown apparently called off the worst kept election secret because of a sudden plummeting of his polls. On the contrary, in Australia, Prime Minister John Howard is believed to be on the verge of calling a snap election precisely because his poll ratings are lower that those of the opposition there.

In Kenya, it seems that this relatively "new" way of monitoring political pulse is subject of vigorous discussion. I believe that in an emerging economy setting, opinion polls are just that, polls on opinions. Nothing is absolute. The fact that, for practical reasons, polls only get opinions from a section of society means that they will almost always be controversial. It's about guestimating perspectives or views on an issue and therefore those with differing opinions will always oppose results. As one Oscar Obonyo has eloquently demonstrates, those who view polls favorably are those whose ratings are highest and the song may change when their ratings plummet