Ongoing ABC Debgate Poll Figures

[Thom1776]

As of 8:20 PM Eastern Time


Ron Paul
19,277---57%

Mitt Romney
2,994---9%

Rudy Giuliani
2,520---8%

Nobody. I'm waiting for Fred Thompson or Newt Gingrich to enter the race.
2,313---7%

Nobody won. I'm voting Democratic.
2,015---6%

Mike Huckabee
1,791---5%

Sam Brownback
948---3%

Tom Tancredo
536---2%

John McCain
503---1%

Tommy Thompson
351---1%

Duncan Hunter
331--1%

Total V-ote: 33,579

[richard1984]

And this poll is supposed to be SPAM-proof, right?

[McDermit]

And this poll is supposed to be SPAM-proof, right?

If you clear your cookies, it shows you the poll again.. but won't count your vote.

[richard1984]

If you clear your cookies, it shows you the poll again.. but won't count your vote.

Cool. Is it difficult to set up polls like that? Seems like it would go a long way to prevent all of the SPAM that I've been hearing about. (case in point, the drudge poll from today)

[RPatTheBeach]

Anyone can simply disconnect their internet connection, and reset it. Clear their cookies, visit the site and cast a vote again. But this can just as easily be accomplished by supporters of other candidates as well :)

I do not condone this activity as it is falsifying results. Integrity!... for what little of that exists on the internet.

[Paulitician]

My long winded thoughts on the issue:

Ron Paul is constantly winning these online polls by a landslide. It's cool and all, but it gives the traditional media reason to prolong the notion that these poll are essentially worthless. They'll give reasons like anyone can vote on these polls, such as minors, illegal alliens, foreigners, non-Republicans etc. They'll also state that Ron Paul just has a more efficient online support that passes these links around and are waiting to vote for Ron Paul any chance they get, such as this site, which I'm pretty sure they're aware of by now. This to me is not so good because they'll use the national/gallop polls instead, claiming they're authentic since they've been used for so long and are more controlled. Both give us a false overview of Ron Paul's overall support. One says he's beating the competition without a problem, the other say he has virtually no chance, so why bother? Unfortunately, we're going to have to play by their rules if they are ever going to give Ron Paul the amount of respect coverage he deserves, which I believe is a lot. Dang it, Ron Paul's name has to get out there!

[mesler]

There are multiple things you can do to prevent spamming. There is really no excuse for these people to conduct polls and then complain about the results being invalid. A combination of cookies, IP Address, and email verification would eliminate most spam. It could still be manipulated but it would be an order of magnitude more difficult to do.

[Richandler]

Well I think another thing is they count direct links. So basically when some one says, "hey go vote in this poll <insert link>" they know people who haven't legitimately watched the debate, went to ABC and found the poll on their own.

Of course I realize that a lot of people have seen the debates and indeed do watch clips from the internet. The basic solution is don't click directlinks!! Type the address into your browser or head to the basic site and find the poll from there.

[Bradley in DC]

VOTE: WHO WON THE REPUBLICAN DEBATE?
Now that the debate's over, it's time to consider the winners and losers.

Who do you think won the Republican debate?

Ron Paul 31,082
Mitt Romney 3,935
Rudy Giuliani 2,948
Nobody won. I'm voting Democratic. 2,857
Nobody. I'm waiting for Fred Thompson or Newt Gingrich to enter the race. 2,667
Mike Huckabee 2,439
Sam Brownback 1,009
Tom Tancredo 692
John McCain 658
Tommy Thompson 398
Duncan Hunter 395
Total Vote: 49,080

[BillyDkid]

My long winded thoughts on the issue:

Ron Paul is constantly winning these online polls by a landslide. It's cool and all, but it gives the traditional media reason to prolong the notion that these poll are essentially worthless. They'll give reasons like anyone can vote on these polls, such as minors, illegal alliens, foreigners, non-Republicans etc. They'll also state that Ron Paul just has a more efficient online support that passes these links around and are waiting to vote for Ron Paul any chance they get, such as this site, which I'm pretty sure they're aware of by now. This to me is not so good because they'll use the national/gallop polls instead, claiming they're authentic since they've been used for so long and are more controlled. Both give us a false overview of Ron Paul's overall support. One says he's beating the competition without a problem, the other say he has virtually no chance, so why bother? Unfortunately, we're going to have to play by their rules if they are ever going to give Ron Paul the amount of respect coverage he deserves, which I believe is a lot. Dang it, Ron Paul's name has to get out there!If they really think these polls are worthless, then why have them at all? People vote for Ron Paul because he is the one they prefer. It's stupid to suppose we need to apologize for supporting the candidate of our choice.

[UtahApocalypse]

Here is a thought that may keep anyone from spamming a poll:

First off, its wrong and will look very bad on the campaign. Secondly, Imagine if someone spams a poll to the point we have a huge lead, and then supporters don't work as hard thinking we have this in the bag? Or what if we all get a huge let down if the numbers don't pan out later? I personally rather have it very close, even if were second or third. Underdogs seem to have a way about getting a lot of support. Also if were behind we all know we have much work to do and keep giving our 110%. Please vote in polls, but vote ONCE.

[RevolutionSD]

Yah, and like the land line polls are "scientific" as they claim! How scientific is it when you are completely leaving out a large segment of the population (those of us without land lines)?