Ask any politician about poll results and they will likely say that polls don't matter, especially if the numbers do not reflect well on their popularity or platforms. But polls did matter to the Republican candidates for president who wanted to be part of the recent Fox News debate, whose participants were chosen by poll results. The Marist Institute for Public Opinion at Marist College in Poughkeepsie did not want to be part of that debate selection process, according to Dr. Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist Institute.
