The connection you make between polls and GOTV is interesting. I hadn't thought of it that way. So, as I understand it, the campaign is the candidate and the people working to get the candidate elected. The campaign can legitimately use polls to decide where to allocate resources (e.g., money for ad buys, themes for ads, on-the-ground person-to-person outreach). However, it's not legitimate for a campaign to publicize the poll numbers, as voters should be motivated by the campaign's message rather than by fear of being behind in the polls.

Is this a fair representation of what you're saying? I don't feel I've captured it quite right, as I can't figure out how to tie in the entertainment aspect of polls. Also, I'm not happy with my choice of the word "fear" as the driving aspect of motivation.

Acknowledging that I may not have captured your argument correctly, I'm going to move forward, fully willing to abandon it if it ends up relying on parts that I've misunderstood.

For one, I'm not sure where to draw the line of who is involved in a campaign, and therefore who should know about poll results. There are people who are paid to work on the campaign, so it seems clear they are part of the campaign. And there are people who spend a lot of time volunteering, so I think it's fair to consider them as part of the campaign. There are people who volunteer less, for example donating a few evenings working for phone banks, or perhaps working in IT or data management, or working on the polls themselves. Then there are people who aren't directly working for the campaign, but are passionate about their candidate (or perhaps passionately opposed to another), and either work on their own or self-organize. Maybe the line is that only people who are involved in decisions that require polling data should know the results? What justifies "needs to know"?

Another question I have is about GOTV in general. The numbers I've seen show that over 40% of eligible voters didn't vote in the 2016 election. I think we agree that more people should vote. Some GOTV methods I've seen are general, non-partisan "Please vote" campaigns. Partisan ads often include admonishments to vote. There are also programs to help people get to the polls (for example, rides). Some of these are non-partisan, some partisan. Are these legitimate GOTV efforts? If the electorate is to be accountable for turnout, what other methods can they use? Should partisan ride-providing efforts have access to poll data to best allocate their resources? How about non-partisan groups, as polls may show which areas are expected to have lower turnout?

As I said, I've responded to what I interpreted as your position before confirming that my interpretation is correct. I've done this in the interest of expediency, not to build a straw man. So please let me know how my interpretation can be improved if it's not correct.

Thanks!