The Pollsters vs. the Polls - Is This Right?

Have you ever wondered if pollsters, conducting pre-election polls, are truly performing a "public service" ... or are they trying to sway the public to vote for a particular candidate? "Candidate X has an 8-point lead over Candidate Y." Does that kind of 'reporting' encourage people who would have voted for "Candidate Y" to rally their family, friends and acquaintances to go to the polls and vote for "Candidate Y" ... or does it make them ask themselves, "Why should I bother to vote if my candidate is that far behind?" It could have either effect ... but, as complacent as Americans are, I think they would, for the most part, choose the latter option. Not voting is like giving two votes to the candidate you don't want to see in office - one of the ones he/she actually got, and the one you didn't cast against him/her - which would effectively cancel out the one he/she got. So, don't be discouraged by statistics - YOU, and only YOU, can change them on election day!
The other thing that concerns me is the "Electoral College". This is a function that has long outlived its intended purpose. It may have been a necessary, and even good, thing in the late 1700's, when information was slow moving, and people in remote, frontier parts of the country may not have been fully informed of the issues and the candidates positions on those issues. Those times are long past though, and we have instantaneous communications in all parts of the country ... for those who care enough to look and/or listen. The Electoral College has overturned the popular vote at least once in my lifetime, in the 2000 Presidential election. It now appears that the Electoral College is poised to do so again! I heard on the news the other day that McCain has 120 EC votes, and Obama has 270 EC votes - there aren't enough undecided EC votes to put McCain in office should he actually win the popular vote!
What's wrong with this picture? Nothing, if your a big fan of socialist government, but PLENTY when the demonstrated will of the people can be overturned by a select few! These few know what's best for all of us ... the majority of us are apparently considered too stupid to know what we're doing in the voting booths, so we just don't count. So, why bother voting?
Because if you don't vote, you have no gripe coming no matter who wins the election, or by what means they win. Elected ... or appointed by the EC ...it makes no difference. If you don't vote, you wind up with exactly what you deserve. VOTE ON NOVEMBER 4TH!!