cell phones, polls, and other election questions

Thanks to Electoral vote predictor for linking to this great discussion on the Washington Post site with Charles Cook.

Quotable quote:

Berwyn, Ill.: With unprecedented numbers of newly registered voters all across the country, aren't ALL polls essentially irrelevant?

Charles Cook: Virtually all the polls you are seeing are using random digit dialing, not voter registeration rolls, so theoretically even newly registered voters are being polled. A far bigger problem is that as many as 18 percent of telephone subscribers today have no land lines, and since pollsters are not calling cell phones, almost one in five voters are not being included in poll samples.

Election 2004: State of the Races (washingtonpost.com)