In response to political surveys and polls, all good citizens should consider it their holy duty either to hang up or give misleading answers, i.e. brazenly lie. My rationale comes from a distaste for collaborating with people who aim to exploit me and others for their own goals — which is what these inquiries are for. In the midst of election season, it’s important to understand this.

Surveys seek to ferret out voter sentiments on issues that might affect voting. Polls seek voter intentions in order to determine who’s ahead and who will win. Let’s look at them separately.

The evils of political surveys are many, but biggest of all is that they turn the electoral process upside down. Instead of the candidate saying this is who I am and what I stand for and propose to do if elected, surveys plumb the electorate to identify what will sell on election day. As the campaigns proceed, and survey data accumulates, candidates pick up and drop issues, adjust prior positions, and reshape their persona to fit the findings. For or against off-shore drilling, affirmative action, fast or slow withdrawal from Iraq, tax cuts or hikes? Depends on what the surveys show.

Polls are a variant of fortune telling, as evidenced by their tattered performance over many elections. (Note how regularly the pollsters’ claims of unerring accuracy are followed, post-election, by sniveling excuses alleging unique circumstances that led them astray.) Nonetheless, the zest for knowing the future is so strong that polls occupy stage central in campaign journalism, despite the crackpot claim that 1,200 responses can accurately measure the political heartbeat of the American electorate. A big lead in the polls can create an aura of inevitability that demoralizes the campaign of the trailing candidate. A bad poll can inspire damaging sentiments: Why waste campaign contributions on a loser? Why bother to vote if it’s all over?

So, good showings in the polls becomes a high priority, leading to false claims from mercenary polling organizations and devious tactics. Among these is the so-called push poll, in which the caller subtly links the opposition candidate to rumors of foul behavior, and asks whether such personal failings should be a barrier to election.

The good news about surveys and polls is that they’re withering under technological changes and voter skepticism. The widespread shift from wired house phones to mobile cell phones creates great difficulties for demographic analysis. Caller ID enables voters to ignore unfamiliar intruders. And, in increasing numbers, voters who answer are promptly hanging up before the first question is uttered.

These developments signify good health in the electorate. Add a few fibs to the mix and the plague of polling and surveys might possibly become an electoral relic.