From the Mumpower Campaign:
One of the first signs that a candidate's poll numbers are sliding is a shift to negative campaigning. Health Shuler's camp must be feeling some pinch, because his campaign has begun to use push polls to manipulate WNC voters.
According to on-line encyclopedia 'Wikipedia' push polls are not a legitimate effort to poll voters. Instead, the push poll is a form of telemarketing-based propaganda and rumor mongering, masquerading as a poll.
NC 11th District Republican Carl Mumpower, learned of his opponent's push polls over the weekend. "As an active participant in the 'Buy America Plan' Heath has taken in over three million in contribution dollars from lobbyists while we have accepted none," said Mumpower. "He has avoided all debate requests by various organizations and in general done his best to avoid any activity that would expose his liberal voting record. It comes as no surprise that he and his supporters would attempt further public manipulations through this kind of dirty trick."
In a push poll, the caller would ask a question like, "Would you vote for Carl Mumpower if you knew he had pledged to cut social security benefits in half?" That question would be intended to 'push' the potential voters to believe something untrue. "We will not be conducting any dirty campaign activity that violates the 9th Commandment," said Mumpower. "My opponent's campaign is apparently operating from a different value system. It will be up to the voters of the 11th District to determine whether he succeeds."
Carl Mumpower
11th District Republican Congressional Candidate
Candidate Website
I had heard this from two sources over the weekend, and am endeavoring to obtain an audio copy. The lefties were up in arms about a push-poll run by Charles Taylor two years ago...I just bet this year, they will be silent on the issue.
For those of you wishing for a real definition of a push-poll, look no further:
Many organizations have posted definitions (AAPOR, NCPP, CMOR, CBS News, Campaigns and Elections, Wikipedia), but the important thing to remember is that a "push poll" is not a poll at all. It's a fraud, an attempt to disseminate information under the guise of a legitimate survey. The proof is in the intent of the person doing it.
To understand what I mean, imagine for a moment that you are an ethically challenged political operative ready to play the hardest of hardball. Perhaps you want to spread an untruth about an opponent or "rumor" so salacious or farfetched that you dare not spread it yourself (such as the classic lie about John McCain's supposed "illegitimate black child"). Or perhaps your opponent has taken a "moderate" position consistent with that of your boss, but likely to inflame the opponent's base (such as Republican voting to raise taxes or a Democrat supporting "Bush's wiretapping program").
You want to spread the rumor or exploit the issue without leaving fingerprints. So you hire a telemarketer to make phone calls that pretend to be a political poll. You "ask" only a question or two aimed at spreading the rumor (example: "would you be more or less likely to support John McCain if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate child who was black?"). You want to make as many calls as quickly as possible, so you do not bother with the time consuming tasks performed by most real pollsters, such as asking a lot of questions or asking to speak to a specific or random individual within the household.
Again, the proof is in the intent: If the sponsor intends to communicate a message to as many voters as possible rather than measure opinions or test messages among a sample of voters, it qualifies as a "push poll."
We can usually identify a true push poll by a few characteristics that serve as evidence of that intent. "Push pollsters" (and MP hates that term) aim to reach as many voters as possible, so they typically make tens or even hundreds of thousands of calls. Real surveys usually attempt to interview only a few hundred or perhaps a few thousand respondents (though not always). Push polls typically ask just a question or two, while real surveys are almost always much longer and typically conclude with demographic questions about the respondent (such as age, race, education, income). The information presented in a true push poll is usually false or highly distorted, but not always. A call made for the purposes of disseminating information under the guise of survey is still a fraud - and thus still a "push poll" - even if the facts of the "questions" are technically true or defensible.
To understand what I mean, imagine for a moment that you are an ethically challenged political operative ready to play the hardest of hardball. Perhaps you want to spread an untruth about an opponent or "rumor" so salacious or farfetched that you dare not spread it yourself (such as the classic lie about John McCain's supposed "illegitimate black child"). Or perhaps your opponent has taken a "moderate" position consistent with that of your boss, but likely to inflame the opponent's base (such as Republican voting to raise taxes or a Democrat supporting "Bush's wiretapping program").
You want to spread the rumor or exploit the issue without leaving fingerprints. So you hire a telemarketer to make phone calls that pretend to be a political poll. You "ask" only a question or two aimed at spreading the rumor (example: "would you be more or less likely to support John McCain if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate child who was black?"). You want to make as many calls as quickly as possible, so you do not bother with the time consuming tasks performed by most real pollsters, such as asking a lot of questions or asking to speak to a specific or random individual within the household.
Again, the proof is in the intent: If the sponsor intends to communicate a message to as many voters as possible rather than measure opinions or test messages among a sample of voters, it qualifies as a "push poll."
We can usually identify a true push poll by a few characteristics that serve as evidence of that intent. "Push pollsters" (and MP hates that term) aim to reach as many voters as possible, so they typically make tens or even hundreds of thousands of calls. Real surveys usually attempt to interview only a few hundred or perhaps a few thousand respondents (though not always). Push polls typically ask just a question or two, while real surveys are almost always much longer and typically conclude with demographic questions about the respondent (such as age, race, education, income). The information presented in a true push poll is usually false or highly distorted, but not always. A call made for the purposes of disseminating information under the guise of survey is still a fraud - and thus still a "push poll" - even if the facts of the "questions" are technically true or defensible.
Source: Pollster
So, not only is the Shuler Campaign avoiding having a real debate (like they said Charles Taylor did two years ago) he is apparently running push-polls (like they said Charles Taylor did two years ago).
So, not only is the Shuler Campaign avoiding having a real debate (like they said Charles Taylor did two years ago) he is apparently running push-polls (like they said Charles Taylor did two years ago).
I guess it is all okay if you are into the whole "situational ethics" thing, huh?
It looks like Congressman Heath Shuler has traded Mountain Values for Washington Values.
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2 comments :
Yeah, push polling = bad.
But there's another incarnation known as market research, which is something campaigns use to determine which messages are most likely to resonate with voters.
This may be a research call instead of a classic push poll.
The people I have spoken to who have been called said that the "pollsters" would not tell them the name of the company that they were working for..maybe we'll luck out, and they'll call someone with a recorder by the phone.
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