I figure it can tell us what 500 people said they thought on Friday night. The way I see it, even with a 'good' poll, you still need to keep in mind what it really says.

I generally consider polls problematic, anyhow, since I almost never am told how the questions were asked, even when I am told how the people were selected. For instance, "Who do you think is at fault?" is different from, "Do you blame the president for this?" is different from, "Do you think anyone's to blame?" is different from "What do you think people should have done differently?" And so forth.

...I always run into trouble asking questions like this when I'm trying to take multiple choice tests, too....