Over the years lots of bad things have unfolded in the political arena and the ability to sample the public’s opinion is high on the list.
Back in the day before polling weaseled its way into the system, elected officials were pretty much flying blind when it came to making tough decisions. That office holder would gather their trusted inner circle advisors around the table and would seek a collective wisdom on whether to promote this policy or that.
It often came down to doing what your gut told you to do since there was no reliable method to test the public waters for what the majority wanted other than letters to the editor. To be sure there was some broad issues where you had a sense of where the public was but other less universal issues were a tough call and from a political standpoint riskier than all get out.
