Poll shows Polls stink

No recent development in Presidential Politics [and perhaps politics in general] infuriates me more than the obsession with polling hypothetical races and reporting the results as fact. Hence, my morning annoyance at the following, via Nealenews:

Poll: McCain, Giuliani would both beat Hillary
Survey shows Clinton, Kerry losing in hypothetical races

Well, there you have it. Even though the election is over three years away, no one has declared their candidacy - much less a platform, and Kerry hasn't a hope in hell of winning the nomination. Yet this is supposed to represent news? I wonder what chance the polls would have given Bill Clinton against President G.H.W. Bush in 1989... The very definition of meaningless analysis.

Polls have their place, but these type are for Diefenbaker's dogs, merely a substitute for thought. The vague notion of "electability" should be banished from the minds of primary voters. Let's have a nomination campaigns of ideas, passion, and debate - let the chips fall where they may. Not one reduced to the simple question of "who might beat x".