Why do we need the constant national political polls deciding who our candidates will be?

[mod mom]

I, for one, no longer trust them after their lame excuses for an election that was blatantly stolen from under our noses in '04 in Ohio (and elsewhere). We look how rove et al devised a way to turn the main street media into corporate lap dogs complete with talking points. We witnessed the DoJ use religious zealots with sworn loyalty to * (the heck with the constitution-it's soooo pre 911) to push out career justice folks in favor of moving a right wing agenda (think Bradley Schlozman and the USA Scandal). What about abusing the Hatch Act to help Republican candidates? Do we really think they wouldn't stack pollsters to push an agenda?

I've posted this example before:

Fritz Wenzel (of T.Blade + Coingate fame) Now Working for Zogby


Weird...He allegedly suppresses Coingate story prior to the '04 Election in Ohio and is now working as a spokeman for Zogby. What's up with this?


Saving Ohio

Did a reporter with GOP ties suppress a story that could have cost Bush the White House?

By Bill Frogameni

Pages 1 2


October 6, 2005 | In April 2005, the Blade newspaper of Toledo, Ohio, began publishing a remarkable series of articles about a well-connected Republican donor, Tom Noe, chair of the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign for Lucas County, which encompasses Toledo. The Blade, which had won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting in 2004, discovered that Noe, a Toledo coin dealer, was investing $50 million for the state through the novel practice of coin speculation: buying and selling rare coins to turn a profit. Noe, the Blade revealed, could not account for $10 million to $13 million in the fund.

The paper also divulged that Noe had been placed under federal investigation for allegedly laundering money -- perhaps state money -- to the Bush campaign. The Blade's initial reports on Noe started a chain reaction of related scandals for Ohio's dominant Republicans. Recently, Gov. Bob Taft pleaded no contest to accepting several gifts from influence peddlers -- including Noe -- without reporting them, as law requires. Noe is currently the subject of 13 investigations.

In November 2004, Lucas County was among the most hotly contested areas in the most hotly contested state. Kerry won the county by 45,000 votes, but George W. Bush went on to win Ohio by less than 120,000 votes, which swung the election for him.


But Bush's reelection may have been made possible by a Blade reporter with close ties to the Republican Party who reportedly knew about Noe's potential campaign violations in early 2004 but suppressed the story.

According to several knowledgeable sources, the Blade's chief political columnist, Fritz Wenzel, was told of Noe's potential campaign violations as early as January 2004. But according to Blade editors, Wenzel never gave the paper the all-important tip in early 2004.



-SNIP
http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/10/06/ohio/index.html



Zogby International spokesman Fritz Wenzel said that was the case in July when Syracuse Post-Standard reporter Glenn Coin wrote a story about Vice President Cheney’s visit to Utica for a fundraiser for Meier. Wenzel was quoted extensively in the article.

http://www.zogby.com/soundbites/ReadClips.dbm?ID=13587



However, as it turns out, both Wenzel and his son had personal relationships with the Noes, who even attended the son's wedding.

In fact, in March 2004, a couple of months after Wenzel got the tip, his son was elected to the Lucas County Republican Central Committee, and from April 15, 2005, to the end of May 2005, Wenzel's son was on the payroll of the Ohio Republican Party.

http://www.counterpunch.org/pringle06092006.html

Doesn't this make you go hmmh...maybe someone is trying to push certain candidates on us? Ignore the polls. Research candidates on your own. When you find a candidate based on ISSUES, ignore the polls, step away from the computer and go and spread the word. Let's not let others decide who is best for us. My 2 cents.

[napi21]

1. Awe comeon. Aren't you a little curious about how the different

candidates are received by other voters? I think it's a mistake to listen to one or two polls because each one has a different criteria and a different way of asking questions, but if you listen to ALL OF THEM, you can see trends. ie: it's obvious that Shrub has completely lost the support of the American people. ALL the polls say that, allbeit to varying degrees. I think the polls are pretty accurate when they say the Pubs are likely to have big losses in 08.

As far as the different candidate poll rankings, they are all pretty fluid right now, and especially in the Pub group, they don't seem to show any clear front runner.

I enjoy hearing the poll results just as a bit of a guide to how the country is feeling.

[mod mom]

2. I guess I would feel better if I felt all voters based their choice on issues over popularity, but

since they don't I don't like the idea of others taking part in making it a popularity contest of who best serves their agenda. I guess 2000 + 2004 left me very jaded.

[Blashyrkh]

3. Because if just anyone could be nominated for President then the game is up.

I mean, sensible decisions that benefit society might actually be made. Can't have that.

:sarcasm:

[mod mom]

4. "just anyone could be nominated for President" Remember the debates with *?

Couldn't get lower than that.