This will not come as a surprise to anyone who's listened to … well, pretty much pundit during this entire presidential campaign.
'The political commentator class is, for the most part, little more than a bunch of regular people like you and me who were lucky enough to land jobs writing down their thoughts on politics for money. It's not that there aren't truly insightful political experts in the world. Professional political strategists know tons about how elections are won, and philosophers and political science professors and economists at universities across the country can all offer fascinating and sagacious arguments on how and why various political positions are justified. But, with a handful of notable exceptions, these are not the types of people who compose our nation's political pundit class. Our political pundits are mostly just spitballing. You might as well just listen to yourself.'
Except, of course, when they something I like, in which case it's proof positive that I'm right.
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Political Pundits Are Mostly Worthless
Politics, like sports, is a subject whose barrier to entry is nonexistent. That is to say, it takes virtually no knowledge of any sort in order to have an opinion on the topic.
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Your last sentence is dead on. We've created this glutinous system of where we don't have to seek out the truth. If they say what I'm thinking it must be right. Then comes the, quote, "truth seeking" when I finally work to backup what I know to be true. If i find something I don't like I just discover arguments to refute or dance.
Confirmation bias.
See, also, "You can find anyone saying something you agree with out on the Internet."
One thing I do like about my Google Plus community is that there's enough dissenting views on a variety of issues that it makes me think about what I'm about to post (and to actually think about how to respond when there's disagreement).
I don't often change my mind, but it has been known to happen.
The only pre-election poll with an interest in being right
http://www.oddschecker.com/specials/politics-and-election/us-presidential-election/winner
If the bets are evenly split, ie £100 placed on each candidate
Obama Win Pay 40 (as of todays odds, 5/2 on), take 100
Romney win Pay 220 (odds of 11/5) take 100.
Guess who the bookies think will win.
Most of the aggregate and betting sites are voting for Obama. I could still wish for the odds to be a bit more certain.