Biased Polling!

[GiovanniC]

My mother answered the phone two nights ago. The caller asked for me by name, but I haven't lived there for a few years. The caller took down my up-to-date phone number, but then also told my mother that she was conducting a political poll and wondered if she might answer a few questions.

My mom agreed. She's a strong Independent, and would never dream of joining either particular party, but she is not a fan of the Idiot in Chief and has mentioned she plans to vote ABB this fall.

They asked her, of George W. Bush and John Kerry, who would she likely vote for in November? She told them Kerry. They asked her what she felt about the job situation. She said, "What jobs?" (My dad has been laid off repeatedly in the last year and a half). They asked if my parents' economic situation was better off or worse off than this time last year, and my mom told her that it was about the same (bad).

Then, according to my mom, the real fun began. They started asking hugely and blatantly biased questions. She couldn't remember too many of them, but one she said was as follows:

"If John Kerry was president instead of George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein would still be in power, torturing, gassing and killing his own people. Knowing that, would you rather vote for George W. Bush or John Kerry in the election this November?"

My mom got angry with this line of questioning, and said that she wanted to give them a piece of her mind and hang up, but she also wanted her opinion heard in this poll (not that it really would've mattered much).

She said that the poller had said she would call me also, but she hasn't done so yet. I really hope that they do call me.

Bastards.

[Sandpiper]

1. It's called Push Polling

It happens all the time.

[GiovanniC]

5. I Know

What it is, and I have a couple of guesses as to who's behind it.

I still hope they call me.

[pmbryant]

2. "Push polling"

A standard dirty-tricks campaign strategy for less scrupulous candidates. Sounds like Bush and his cronies are getting started early.

--Peter

[distortionmarshall]

4. hmmm......

it seems that people are continually surprised by push-polling, as if they didn't know what it was/that it existed....

seems like some sort of grassroots campaign would be useful here, in defusing the efficacy of pushpolling....

i'm thinking something along the following lines - just bring up some kind of topic about pushpolls next time you're in public - at a coffee shop, in grocery line, that kinda thing.....

mebbe-hopefully people will overhear, ask you what a pushpoll is, and then they will be innoculated against the virus....

lemme look for a site with lotsa good examples on push polls.... brb...

[GiovanniC]

7. I Wasn't Surprised

My mom was, a little, because the caller represented themselves in a way at first to make her believe that it was a legitimate and respectable polling outfit taking an objective opinion poll. Although my mom thinks that my "liberal ideas" are "kooky" sometimes, I have innoculated her somewhat and so the alarms went off once some of the more biased questions came out.

[Bucky]

9. This wasn't real push polling. That doesn't happen this far from elections

Judging by the description this was done to field test future Bush-Cheney marketing.

[distortionmarshall]

10. here's good info...

....along with my favorite example....

http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Push_poll

[Pale Blue Dot]

3. This was probably done by the RNC

They are specifically looking for which issues, and ways of presenting them, might cause an independent or a Democrat to vote for Bush over Kerry. They will use the results to plan their ad campaign.

[tom_paine]

8. Exactly. The "Hitler Playbook" is in full effect.

Although, Hitler couls be more direct. He could brutalize more and lie less.

The Busheviks, due to the nation they are trying to take over and the times, are forced to brutalize less and lie more.

[West Coast Democrat]

11. Hey, FinnFan. I like your avatar.

I'm also a fan of the Finns!

[Bucky]

6. The poller won't call you. Polling 2 members of a family ruins sampling

The only reason they took your new number is for future sampling. From how you describe it, the caller was probably from a reputable polling company, but they were almost certainly not working for a news media company (who usually hire the pollsters you see on TV & the papers). They were probably hired by Bush or the RNC to field test what marketing ploys will tear down the Democrat and which ones will build up Bush's numbers. This is SOP; Democrats do it too.

[seabeyond]

12. they did to mccain in sc

how would you feel if john mccain had an illigitamite (sp) balck daughter how would you feel

pigs, grinnin

[GiovanniC]

13. That's Exactly What I Told Her

I said that this should come as no surprise; if they'll do it against McCain they'll do it against anyone the Democrats put up.