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 ‘Push Polling’ Taints Campaign in CaliforniaPosted on Feb 3, 2008
New polls show Barack Obama closing in on Hillary Clinton’s lead, nationally, in California and among women voters, which may be why either the Clinton campaign or some ally is engaging in that unsavory campaign tactic, the push poll. The idea is to phone potential voters pretending to be a pollster, but to use the questions as a form of propaganda to push the voter toward your preferred candidate. John McCain’s 2000 campaign was famously sunk in South Carolina when mysterious “pollsters” asked voters if they would be “more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain for president if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?” If the appearance of Karl Rove politics in the campaign is eventually traced back to Clinton headquarters, it may not shock political observers. Both Clinton’s campaign manager and her husband are said to have admired Rove’s strategies in the past.
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By Conservative Yankee, February 5 at 2:08 pm # “I just did some “hard” research; I checked EVERY SINGLE ITEM that has appeared with regard to Obama and/or Hillary over the past few months (i.e., not including items on the GOP candidates or specifically on Edwards, Kucinich et al). Here is what I found in the six categories:” The water was 12 feet high in New Orleans. That is not as deep as in the middle of the Gulfs of Mexico, Maine or Massachusetts bay. but 12 feet was enough to bring about ruin to a US city. I’ve been a reader for my life since age 11, I have seldom found literature which casts Hitler, Stalin, or Charlie Manson as the good guys...therefore The libraries are therefore bias? You are smart Maani… consider the relation.
By Conservative Yankee, February 6 at 5:51 am # Condesending Maani“How you get from that to Hitler and Stalin I cannot possibly fathom…” Here it is in “simple” If there is nothing good to say it is not “bias” that reporters do not invent “mitigating facts” My bad, I ass-u-med you were smarter… I won’t make that mistake again.
By JW, February 4 at 1:53 pm # The story on Crooks and Liars says that the writer of this LA Times piece was the press secretary for Laura bush, while Ed Coghlan (the receiver of the call) is the former news director of KCOP, LA’s FOX affiliate:
By wagonjak, February 4 at 11:48 am # Hillary Hack JobI agree with those posters here who say this dishonest blog should be removed or corrected...the smear that the Clinton campaign was behind push polling in California has been thoroughly debunked… Seeing it here at “Truth"Dig does you no honors and discredits this normally excellent site…
By Robert Lewis, February 3 at 7:52 pm # Re: Tie Political Dirty Tricks Back to theYou are so right! I will join you! At least John McCain gives the “air” of honesty. The Clintons can’t be trusted. They are in it for themselves at the expense of the people. America is waking up to these political types and they are not wanted anymore.
By Alex, VA, February 3 at 6:05 pm # Finally Being VettedJust yesterday I noted that people had very limited information on Sen. Barack Obama as we go into millions of people voting on the two candidates. And then in the last two days we see three stories that illustrate the point very clearly about what Sen. Obama says about his views and record and what journalists find when they dig into the facts: 1) The New York Times on its front page explains how Sen. Barack Obama told voters he stood up to the nuclear power industry and how he passed a bill to require reports of any radioactive leaks after hearing from his constituents. But The Times discovers, after a lengthy examination, that the bill was watered down after meeting with Exelon, the company whose plants created the issue and whose key executives are big contributors and bundlers to his campaign. Answering written questions for the NY Times, the campaign, in the words of the paper, never “directly” explains why Sen. Obama would tell voters he passed a bill that in fact was not passed and did not become law. 2) The Chicago Tribune features a similar story on a different topic. While Sen. Obama on the stump tells people about the plight of Maytag workers who lost their jobs, ("Obama’s fundraising collides with his rhetoric") the Tribune documents that the union covering those workers believes they got no help from the Senator, who was again taking significant contributions and bundling from one of the company’s directors and biggest investors. 3) And yesterday there was an AP story where Senator Obama told the voters of Idaho: ‘’And then there are people who say, ‘Well, he doesn’t believe in the Second Amendment,’ even though I come from a state —we’ve got a lot of hunters in downstate Illinois. And I have no intention of taking away folks’ guns.’’ But he didn’t disclose to those voters, as the AP said that “he does support gun control and has a record of voting for it in the Illinois Senate. He backed limiting handgun purchases to one a month, but he made no attempts to ban them.” When he originally ran for the state legislature 12 years ago, he filled out a questionnaire saying he ‘’supported banning the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns.’’ He gave the voters of Idaho no indication whatsoever of either his record in the State Senate or his prior views on the questionnaire.
By Peter Blood, M.D., February 3 at 5:23 pm # Drinking the Kool-AidI think ‘sleazy’ would best describe the Photoshop hackjob tying together the Clintons/Rove/Bush(es). Does the Obama campaign have Truthdig on commission, or what? Or do they in their Kool-Aid-inspired self-importance as the Fourth Estate merely not understand the difference between so-called “Push Polling” and Message Testing? Or is it just too anathema to the Audacity of Hope?
By Brad, February 3 at 4:45 pm # will you retractThis is already proving to be a false story, spread by the LA Times. Will you remove it until verified?
By lawlessone, February 3 at 4:28 pm # Poll-utionAn Observation on the fact that many polls are now, not just wrong in reporting the results, but often really just sneaky campaign ads: We pretty much banned Polish jokes in polite conversation. Since the credibility of polls have finally become a joke too, maybe society would be better off if we banned polls too. After all, they had little use to begin with except as clues that electronic voting machines had been tampered with by the Republican owned Dybold company which makes such machines. Moreover, polls have caused active harm to the democratic process in the past by persuading voters in western states to not bother. Lately, they have become a means to lie to voters. Consequently, perhaps it is time to “poll” the plug on them, so to speak. Hang up when any call. Or, better yet, tell them you have someone on the other line and would they please wait. Then, set the phone down and make a game out of how long you can tie up the line with pollsters wasting their time and money as they have wasted yours. Add Your Comment |
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Newsroom Carnage Continues at The Washington Post
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