This is my first election year really paying attention to polls so I’m still learning exactly how they work. Hopefully outliers. I’m not exactly sure why CNN is projecting the doom narrative unless it’s to push more people to get out and vote.

Polling in the US isn't at all scientific. It relies on registered voters (may be out of date/they may switch) And Ringing people on landlines - which means around 90% of people don't have one or don't answer cos they're wise to telemarketing.

Polling is all over the place because each polling company is making guesstimates on what exactly the electorate will look like. The NYT is using a more Trump friendly guesstimate electorate-I think the best thing to do is just look at the polls always as a group- &don’t single one out -good or bad

It’s a bit of mess, frankly. Some pollsters -NYT/Siena and CNN - are using voter lists that may well be out of date. They give different results to other pollsters who use a different methodology.