Indeed, surveys in totalitarian societies aren't worth anything. Imagine you have never seen anything resembling free press/idea exchange in your whole life, since childhood until now. Moreover, for some reason you are required at regular times of the year to publicly profess your political support without actually understanding what is it all about, as there is no opposing force to profess your ideas against (OK, maybe "America" in TV news). The clever/sociopathic ones just find ways to game the system until they get their "heads chopped off" by aligning to some fraction that loses some internal fight; whether you are a little person or a major figure, you have to follow the same algorithm.