Hate? I thought the campaign press loved polls — those snapshots from which all sorts of alarming conclusions may be drawn and discussed.

Thank you, Chuck Todd (“Chuckie T”), for bringing a voice of reason to the discussion of one particular type of poll over which reporters seem to love to get worked up:

MSNBC’s WILLIE GEIST: Chuck, I want to show you a poll we’ve been looking at this morning. Maybe you can help us read into it. It shows that in the state of Kentucky if your choice lost the Democratic nomination, 28% of those people said they would vote for John McCain. That number is smallerer in the state of Oregon. What does that tell you about the way people feel about Barack Obama?

TODD: You know I hate this poll question because I think it — you ask people at the height of their passion for a candidate and they’re always going to say they’re not — ‘No, I’m sticking to my guns on this one.’…

A poll and perspective. Such a rare pairing.