The last minute polls seem to be freaking everyone out.

The last minute polls seem to be freaking everyone out. This, in part, is because politicos and pollsters are using the numbers to predict the future. Poll numbers indicate trends in behaviour, and nothing more--a registered Democrat who answers a poll indicating that he will vote Democrat is under no compulsion (philosophic, physical, political) to actually vote that way. The trends are certainly instructive, and need not be removed from the process, but their significance has been so grossly exaggerated that even professors of journalism can find no other purpose for election coverage. I like several of the replies below.