Pollster David Byler, writing for MSNBC: “Polling is built on a simple idea: If we talk to a representative, miniature version of a state or country, we can estimate what the whole state or country thinks. It’s like getting a sample at an ice cream shop: one well-mixed spoonful tells you what a whole cone will taste like.” “But it’s getting tougher to reach the people needed to build that mini-country or mini-state.