AP United States Government and Politics - Polls

Opinion Polls

measure people’s feelings about specific issues or candidates

Benchmark poll

taken at the beginning to see how a candidate is faring, whether they should join the race, what they must do to make up ground

Tracking Polls

taken overtime, finds out how people feel about specific issues that a politician will be focusing on in his/her campaign, helps focus a candidate's message/stances

Entrance/ Exit polls

not always super reliable, ask people who they will vote for before or after they actually go vote.  In 2016, many would not admit that they voted for Trump, thereby skewing exit poll results.