Polls, polls, polls

We are slightly more than one year away from the next presidential election, and people seeking that office will be using every tool available to measure how they are doing.

Polls are a common tool used by candidates and other outside organizations to measure their success. Since President Barak Obama is not facing opposition for the Democratic nomination, much of the polling focus is on the Republican candidates right now.

In the last few months, we have seen wild swings when measuring the field of candidates. Since the beginning, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has been a GOP frontrunner while others have surged and fallen.

During the summer, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann found some success then faded when Texas Gov. Rick Perry entered the race. Perry has floundered recently in the polls, and Herman Cain has taken his place as the primary challenger to Romney.

Will Cain have this same success next month? Who knows? The presidential race is a marathon. This means it is too early to discount anybody who is running.

However, we have to be very careful regarding how much influence we allow polls to have over us. As a society, we like receiving updates in short and definite terms. Therefore, polls are attractive to us because they give us an update that shows who is winning and who is not.

Despite this, polls can be misleading. The methodology an organization uses while compiling data is critical, but we hear little discussion about how a poll is tabulated. All we hear are the final results.

Because of this, it is necessary that we take a close look at who takes a poll. News organizations often sponsor these polls, and as we know, some news organizations have bias when it comes to politics.

Therefore, if we read a poll sponsored by MSNBC that is hurtful to a Republican candidate, we need to remember MSNBC's politics lean to the left. Does this necessarily mean the poll cannot be trusted? No, but it is one of the many factors we must consider when digesting information.

The same applies to an outfit like Fox News. Fox leans to the right, and that must be acknowledged when analyzing data about the president or other Democratic leaders.

Many of the polls we are currently seeing are national polls that measure a candidate's popularity. While these polls may have some merit in providing us the pulse of the race, they fall way short when providing information about a candidate's electability.

These general polls are not useful because this is not how we elect the president. We elect a chief executive through the Electoral College. If we genuinely want to use polls to determine who is a frontrunner in the race, we have to use a more specific approach.

The easiest way would be to take polls in all states. Pollsters could give respondents in each state a choice between the president and a specific Republican challenger to measure the strength of both sides. Based on those results, assign the number of electoral votes each state has to the candidate who led in the poll.

Adding up those results will give us a much better idea who is a player in the race.

Most of the polls we see now are not doing this. People who perform these polls appear content to only provide a snapshot of what the field is like today.

This is not necessarily bad. Snapshots have their place, but we have to remember that they do not tell the complete story.

The unfortunate fact is that many are using these snapshots to determine who the most qualified candidate in the race is. And that is a little scary.

Titans beginning critical three-game homestand following bye week

At the beginning of the season, I believe most Tennessee Titans fans would have been content with a 3-2 start. With so many questions unanswered back in August, most people were hoping the team would just be competitive.

However, in hindsight, it is difficult not to look back at the first five games and not be a little disappointed. This is because the Titans really should have a 4-1 record. The lethargic 16-14 loss to Jacksonville in the opening game is frustrating. Since that game, the Jaguars have not won another game and stand at 1-5.

However, the Titans are in first place in the AFC South with a half-game lead over Houston. The Texans come to Nashville this week, and a win would give the team some cushion in the standings. Actually, the next three games could make or break the Titans season.

After the Houston game, there are two more home games, coming against Indianapolis and Cincinnati. The Colts are winless and are finding life without Peyton Manning to be a struggle. Cincinnati is 4-2, and the rookie tandem of quarterback Andy Dalton and wide receiver A.J. Greene has been one of the surprises of the early season.

If Tennessee wins these three games, they would be 6-2 at the midway point of the season. If they lose one, the team would still be on pace to win 10 wins and have a good shot at the playoffs.

The big question is whether or not the team can continue their improved play. It is possible, but the Titans must get better production out of running back Chris Johnson. He only has one 100-yard game this season and is averaging around 50 yards a game. He will eventually break out, but it needs to happen soon.

Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck (1,414 yards passing, nine touchdowns) has been excellent, and his passing has carried the offense through five games. However, circumstances show that this will not continue. After all, he is a 36-year-old quarterback with a history of back problems. At some point, the aches and pains of the season will catch up with him. All the more reason the running game must get revved up.

Additionally, the improvement of the defense must continue. Before the loss to Pittsburgh, the Titans had the number one defense in the league. The Titans lost to the Steelers 38-17. Were the problems in that game an indicator that the defense is coming back down to earth?

Lots of questions remain to be answered. Last year, the Titans began 5-3 before slumping to a final 6-10 record. This could still happen this year. But, right now, I am enjoying the winning.

Watch for walkers

As I have grown older, walking has become my favorite form of exercise. Most days in the late afternoon, I take a brisk walk near my home in Manchester.

Fortunately, I have plenty of room to take my jaunts. I live near the city park, and during my lifetime, the city has done a nice job developing the park for walkers. From humble origins, a nice greenway has been developed that is a blessing for the city.

The path I usually take meanders through the park back under the Murfreesboro highway. At that point, I take the sidewalk at the bottom of the hill and walk back toward the town square.

The hill there is steep, and in recent years, I have appreciated more what a formidable adversary gravity is. It didn't used to be that challenging, but the relentless march of age has made it more difficult.

A few years ago, the city put a walk signal at the intersection of Fort Street and the highway. I like that because I enjoy walking through the town square as I make my way home. All a person has to do is press a button, and the sign there tells him or her when it is time to cross the road.

In theory, this is a very safe way to cross the road, but I have recently had to cut out that portion of my walk. Unfortunately, many drivers do not know or care that there is a walk signal there for pedestrians. More than once I have had to dance around cars that have tried to turn me into road kill.

The most recent example was a couple of weeks ago. I was walking across the road when a driver turning from Fort Street on to the Murfreesboro highway almost knocked me off my feet. The driver was talking on a cell phone, did not slow down, and missed me by only a couple of feet.

It made me angry, and I wish I had done a better job of thinking on my feet. If I had, I possibly could have gotten the driver’s license plate information. Better yet, I could have "bumped" into the car and flopped onto the pavement.

After that, I could have made one quick call to Bart Durham, and I would have been on the road to Easy Street. There are many healthy-looking people in his commercials that have gotten a lot of money. Durham makes it look simple.

All kidding aside, the unfortunate aspect of my experiences is that I do not think there is anything that can be done to thwart these uncaring drivers. If drivers see people walking across the road and still do not slow down, then they obviously do not care.

I know I am stereotyping here somewhat. The majority of drivers are fine. However, it just takes a few reckless people to cause a horrifying accident.

My thoughts keep going back to that last driver who cut me off. She was talking on her cell phone and appeared oblivious to what was going on.

Her actions are a sign of times. Some people believe they are so important that they can't be away from their phones for a few minutes. Technology is nice, but I view driving my car as an opportunity to get some peace and quiet. Obviously, others do not think that way.

I still take a nice walk. I've just had to modify it somewhat.

That's too bad. Then again, I don't want to become someone's personal hood ornament.

The entire purpose of my walks is to get into better physical shape and not to become a stain on the road.