[ncw96]

> What value does something like fivethirtyeight add to our democracy, if any?

One possible use of polls and election models is for helping people who want to donate to candidates determine which races are closest and where their money is most likely to have an impact.

> Here’s an idea: everyone go vote for whoever you think the best candidate is regardless of what a stack of polls say.

Because the US does not have ranked choice voting in most elections, polls are useful to determine which candidates are viable. If your preferred candidate is only polling at 5%, they are pretty unlikely to win, so you might want to vote instead for whichever of the leading candidates you find most agreeable.