Secretary Wyman kicks off Friday’s forum about polling and politics. Seated are pollster Stuart Elway and polling expert Kathy Frankovic (right).

Public opinion polling, focus groups and shaping public policy and political campaigns were the focus of a Capitol forum co-sponsored Friday by Secretary of State Kim Wyman and the Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at WSU.

The fascinating hour, moderated by Melissa Santos of the Tacoma News Tribune and The Olympian, included insiders’ explanation of the strengths and challenges of polling in today’s rapidly changing world of evolving communications, polling technique and politics.

Two senior polling experts brought their perspective of decades in the specialized field: Stuart Elway, Seattle-based independent pollster, and Kathy Frankovic, longtime polling expert for CBS News, the New York Times and other clients around the world. They described impact of many voters shifting from landlines to cellphones and smartphones, soaring media use of campaign polling, and shifting use by the private and public sectors.

Stuart Elway (left) discusses polling during Friday’s forum at the Capitol. Seated next to Elway are (from left) Kathy Frankovic, Todd Donovan and moderator Melissa Santos.

Todd Donovan, political scientist at Western Washington University and a public-opinion expert, told of polling in Iowa before the presidential caucuses and seeing how media reports of “horserace” polls  there and nationally seem to affect how candidates are perceived.

A lively Q&A session followed.  The session will be televised via TVW cable television and online.