Some candidates do better than the polls and others worse. We break it down.

Pre-election polls are more important this primary election cycle than ever before.

Last week, Michael Bloomberg was given a place on the debate stage in Las Vegas because of his rising support in pre-election polls. Polls provide more than just interesting talking points — they can have direct consequences for candidates’ futures.

With the first three Democratic Party contests of the season behind us, it’s worth looking at how well pre-election polls have done so far at predicting candidates’ support on Election Day. CONT.

Josh Clinton & John Lapinski, NBC News