THE PRESIDENTIAL POLL

The CRIMSON does not regard the presidential poll which it will hold next Thursday as just another straw-vote, of the type being made by periodicals, especially college dailies, all over the country. Experience has shown that the country does not go as Harvard goes, and that in a close election the CRIMSON poll is not a sure basis for betting odds. The votes cast will, however, offer a significant analysis of the attitude of the students, and will probably show some vagaries worthy of close attention, as for example, when Smith carried the Law School in 1928, though the University as a whole chose Hoover.

But the CRIMSON purposes that this poll shall stimulate student interest in politics by giving the political clubs of the University an opportunity to match their skill in winning voters for their respective candidates. It should prove either a confirmation or a repudiation of the charge which Professor Hart made in 1928, that Harvard political clubs "are half-asleep." Too the preliminary information which will be printed, including statements from the clubs, interviews and articles on the candidates, and statements from Harvard professors and national political figures, may well offer a mine of material to aid the voter in making his choice.

It is in the aid which the poll will give in forming the opinions of the voters that its real value lies. In general students declare for candidates without the reflection and information which should precede the decisions of intelligent persons. They are influenced by the desire to be different, and become fair weather radicals, or they dismiss the issues as not involving them, oblivious of the fact that they are destined to become the leaders in this failing democracy, and that some preparation for leadership is necessary. If the CRIMSON poll is successful, it will draw student interest to the important events of the next few weeks, and will aid the voters to make responsible decisions concerning the candidates.