Gallup Poll On Polls

This is from 1997 but still interesting.  "Survey researchers have actually conducted public opinion polls to find out how much confidence Americans have in polls -- and have discovered an interesting problem. People
generally believe the results of polls, but they do not believe in the scientific principles on
which polls are based. In a recent Gallup "poll on polls," respondents said that polls generally
do a good job of forecasting elections and are accurate when measuring public opinion on
other issues. Yet when asked about the scientific sampling foundation on which all polls are
based, Americans were skeptical."

Someone asked about the history of polling and this goes into that a bit.

And here is a 2010 Update from Gallup.