Left In Lowell

Bad Idea to Push Poll Bloggers

by Lynne at 12:15 pm.

Word to the wise in politics - you might want to give your out of state pollers a call list scrubbed of all political bloggers before commissioning what amounts to a push poll. Dick Howe has a really good rundown of the call - I was also polled as well. (Interrupted a nice game of Dominion, too. I had no idea it was a 20 minute poll! Ug.) I was going to write about it a couple days ago but got caught up - however, Dick’s post prodded me.

The motivation for the poll was so plainly clear, I almost hung up midstream, but like a diligent blogger, also someone who likes to make sure my opinions are heard, I stuck on to the end.

Specifically, I too noticed that there were a lot positive “Doherty-based questions” in the poll (”how important do you rate” questions had a lot to do with his experience in Leone’s office) and a lot of negative Donoghue questions. One section of the polling asked about “rumors” - was I concerned that “people were saying” various things…one in particular, Dick forgot to mention, was the “rumor” that Donoghue was only running for office because three years as a Rep would double her state pension. Who the *f* is saying that?? Oh right, this poll is.

There was some issues polling which amounted to, largely, are you pro law and order (kind of pandering sorts of questions, to which most people knee-jerkingly rate high, and I don’t, because I don’t like to be manipulated). A few other issues too. The beginning of the poll was largely higher offices and favs/unfavs sort of questions.

Now, this was a damned long poll, probably the longest I’ve ever taken, and I doubt many people would stop to take it. (Political nerds aside.) The push polling “rumors-that’s-what-they-say” parts were long into the call. Not a great plan, if you want them heard by wavering voters (I am not one of these). But even worse is polling the city’s longtime political bloggers, who are going to analyze the poll right in public view. I was pretty disgusted at the poll, which clearly was doing more than just polling. Many of the “rumors” questions were not rumors, but literally the first time I heard them was during that call.

My analysis: it confirms, should this poll have been proven to be commissioned by the Doherty campaign, that they are (admittedly amateurishly) playing dirty, or that they are trying to take advantage of the dirtiness that inhabits Lowell politics. Either by polling to see if it plays so they can use it, or, if I am correct, by effectively push polling (insinuating under the guise of a poll) misleading or, in my humble opinion, lies about his opponent.

Really? This is how you want to run your campaign? I’d like to know if this was a Doherty campaign poll, because if it was not, then he might want to talk to whoever did do it. If he did, I think we can take the measure of the campaign from this and his other actions to date.

[Filed under MA politics, Local politics, State Elections] [link]

33 Responses to “Bad Idea to Push Poll Bloggers”

Bill Says:
July 14th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
I received a similar call but, before they could ask me any questions, I asked for whom the poll was being conducted. Silence for a minute, then click.
Lynne Says:
July 14th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
My experience with polls is no one ever reveals who commissioned them. One the one hand, knowing who commissioned it might skew the results - I might change my answers because I don’t want to help the Republicans, or a primary opponent I don’t want to get accurate info.

On the other hand, it’d give a lot more context to these sorts of things - “oh, so THAT’s why the poll’s questions were biased!” etc.

In this case, it was pretty clear who’s side this poll was supposed to be on. Whether or not officially paid for by the Doherty campaign, I can’t tell you…I suppose we could look at the campaign finance reports, a week before the primary, to see.
Jack Mitchell Says:
July 14th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
Further consideration:

The poll design may not have been intentioned to push. There is no “black baby” smoking gun. It did, from what I have read, test different squishy areas of the electorate’s temperment.

So, the poll may be more of a probe, than a push. Meaning, they are searching for a “live wire” for their messaging. It comes across as a push because Dongahue’s negatives are contrasted against Doherty’s positives.
joe from Lowell Says:
July 14th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
I got that poll. I don’t think it’s a push-poll, just a poll test-driving talking points.
Paul Belley Says:
July 14th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
I find it very interesting that after Chris comes out with a plan to create jobs that this Push Poll is revealed.

It’s no secret I support Chris and after speaking to him he has nothing to do do with this Push Poll.

Chris is working very hard and walking and talking and every person he can get to in the 1st Dist.

This is NOT coming from Chris’s campaign!!

Please Lynne get the facts 1st…..Call Him
Jack Mitchell Says:
July 14th, 2010 at 10:14 pm
Wasn’t home when this call came in at 8:15pm. The caller id gives the name as Parker Group.
http://www.the-parker-group.com/index.html
Lynne Says:
July 14th, 2010 at 10:19 pm
Really, Paul?? Who else would have had such a crass poll? It was very obviously biased. If not him, then someone on his behalf spent a lot of money. Which is, generally, illegal. But he might want to find out who then. Because it makes him look terrible.
Lynne Says:
July 14th, 2010 at 10:22 pm
I dunno, a lot of the stuff asked was awfully left field to me.

But, I said that in my post, that it was either push polling OR testing the waters for a dirty message - either way, it stinks of poor negative campaigning.
Lowell Lurker Says:
July 15th, 2010 at 8:33 am
As I understand it, campaigns use polls to find out what issues resonate with voters … both policy issues and issues (strengths & weaknesses) about the candidates. It sounds like that’s what this poll was doing. Also, most candidates test their own weaknessses just as much as their opponents, so the rush to assign this poll to one candidate over the other is probably premature (not that that’s stopped anyone around here.) The stuff may have seemed “out of left field” because it hasn’t appeared in the newspaper yet. That doesn’t mean its not correct. Whatever resonates the most positively and the most negatively will likely be arguments that we’ll start to see. The fact is, in 2010, campaigns often have better resources to research each other than a single newspaper or a single reporter. Much of the “investigative” journalism you see during campaign season is a product of the campaigns, not reporters.

Lynne, you’ve reported and analyzed everthing about this race through an extremely pro-Dongahue lens, so your specific recollections of what was asked and how it was asked are pretty suspect at this point.
Lynne Says:
July 15th, 2010 at 9:25 am
The questions asked really were assholish, if Doherty’s people were polling on it simply to see if they resonate as messages, then it’s still suspect as being dirty, IMHO. At worst, it was an intention to put those memes in front of frequent voters. Several of the questions were *not* common rumors or “that’s what people say” sayings in the race. So as I said in my post, either it was push poll, or at best testing the waters on some very crass attack memes. Either way it’s a bad reflection of whoever paid for the poll.

And not to put to fine a point on it, but my memory is QUITE fine thank you. Just because I come at this race being for a candidate doesn’t mean I can’t objectively look at a poll which I participated in and see it for what it really is.

There was literally, 90% questions “going Doherty’s way.” In the questions about “what people are saying and how you feel about it,” 90% of the negative ones were anti-Donoghue and 90% of the positive ones were pro-Doherty. If you read Dick Howe’s post, you’ll see quite a number of them listed, and even Jack Mitchell, who did not get polled and who I had not spoken to about my experience and who is not taking sides in the primary, he stated in comments on Dick’s post that “Based on what is written, it sounds like we have a ‘push poll.’”

So you know what? Take your accusations about my ability to write up my experiences elsewhere. Because your accusation doesn’t hold up under any sort of actual scrutiny. And I’ll give you another piece of advice too. Read what I actually write, next time.
Mr. Lynne Says:
July 15th, 2010 at 10:18 am
Having been there when she took the poll, I have to say that the poll definitely ‘leaned’ in a particular direction. It was basically testing associations with other polls (how do you feel about Senator P. or Meehan or whoever), testing messaging about tough-on-crime candidates vs. candidates who have defended criminals, and rumors about Eileen. This 2nd hand description probably doesn’t do the ‘moment’ justice. In the moment it was pretty clear.

Seemed pretty pushy to me. It was gathering some voter data by comparison to other polls and then an attempt to ’see what will stick’ with this person. When it’s done they’ll have a picture of what messaging will work with whom.
Christopher Says:
July 15th, 2010 at 11:09 am
Just for the record, many of the callers claim they don’t know who paid and they may be telling the truth, as that detail doesn’t get shared with them. I got polled like this once and though the caller claimed not to know I came right out and told him that I knew the business well enough that I could virtually guarantee that candidate x was paying for this particular poll.
Lynne Says:
July 15th, 2010 at 11:46 am
Ha, I should have put it on speakerphone, then you would have been stuck listening to it along with me. ;-P
joe from Lowell Says:
July 15th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
There was literally, 90% questions “going Doherty’s way.”

Is there supposed to be anything wrong with that? What do you expect the Doherty campaign to test-market? Slogans that make Donoghue look good?

This is what campaigns do - they use public opinion research to gauge how people react to different messages. I have absolutely no doubt the Donoghue campaign is doing something similar. There’s nothing sinister about testing your message.
Lynne Says:
July 15th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Right, but there were some smears and rather blatant distortions there as well. Meaning, sure, it’s par for the course for polling, BUT - it smacked of push polling, #1, and #2, it shows that Doherty (if indeed his campaign ran the poll) is willing to go there, which in my book is pretty lame, and also, dishonest and unworthy.

Polling to see how an attack will go is fine - push polling innuendos that are untrue, distorting, or outright lies is something I’m going to darn well criticize. The reason I don’t have to criticize Donoghue is, she wouldn’t pull a stunt like this. Sorta why I support her - she’s a good, strong, progressive candidate with ethics and will speak to the issues. If she runs a poll, my guess is that it will be more generic, and also, probably straight up try to see where the actual support/oppose numbers lie so they know how far they have to go on voter ID, not push poll or test out distortions and crap about Doherty.

Of course, his supporters here seem to be implying he’s denied doing it, though I’d love to see him actually state that. He has my email and my phone number. *shrug*
Lowell Lurker Says:
July 15th, 2010 at 3:37 pm
Sorry, we forgot that you’re the authorized biographer of Eileen Donoghue and that you are familiar with 100% of her public and private career. Of couse the polll could not have mentioned anything you’re not familiar with, since you are an expert. A push poll is usually done on a very wide scale right before an election. Give me a break. Stop hyperventilating. Also, any thoughts on Doherty’s economic development plan?
Lynne Says:
July 16th, 2010 at 10:52 am
Dude, don’t be a dick to me just because you don’t like what I write.

“Of couse the polll could not have mentioned anything you’re not familiar with, since you are an expert.”

If anyone is, I am, sorry to break it to you but I’ve been sort of paying attention to this whole race.
Lynne Says:
July 16th, 2010 at 10:58 am
Oh and I’d love to know what his economic plan is, when he bothers to actually update anyone on it. He doesn’t even have a basic, short version of an issues page on his rather sparse website. *shrug*
joe from Lowell Says:
July 16th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
It is true that one term as a state senator will double Donoghue’s pension. Testing to see if that attack has legs is s.o.p., and there’s nothing wrong with it.

I don’t find it a terribly convincing argument, either, but it’s not unfair for the other side to put up a fight.
JC Says:
July 16th, 2010 at 9:24 pm
Joe, I agree completely. Both candidates will want to test their own strengths and weaknesses with the voters. Both will also want to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of their opponent. Both will want to test possible campaign strategies. You zeroed in on the research re: Donoghue’s alleged pension increase. That also caught me completely unaware. It may just be a red-herring, but the Doherty camp would want to know if it’s in play, whether they can take advantage of it, and how best to do so.

It appears that one camp has started their research process in earnest, can’t blame them for that. You can look for Donoghue to respond with similar research. I would be very surprised if quite a bit of analysis has not already been accomplished by her campagain advisors.

Neither side can attract $$ or additional party support without proving that they have a real chance of winning.

You said it, Joe, and I agree: SOP.
Mimi Says:
July 17th, 2010 at 7:54 am
From Matt Murphy’s article in today’s Sun http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_15539288

“Doherty would neither confirm nor deny that his campaign had funded the poll in question, and declined to comment on whether his campaign had done any polling thus far in the race. Donoghue’s campaign said they have not yet done any polling.”

and “The poll reportedly includes misleading statements about Donoghue’s career in public service, attempting to glean voters’ responses to claims that she repeatedly voted for unbalanced budgets and higher property taxes as a member of the City Council and only wants the job of senator for a few years to boost her pension.

“Donoghue, by law, was required to pass a balanced budget on the City Council and has never paid into the public pension system.”

and JC, no I do not think you can expect Donoghue’s campaign to use “push polls.” When has she used “rumor mongering” in the guise of a poll as a campaign tactic?
nextyearishere Says:
July 17th, 2010 at 9:35 am
Well, it appears that the poll was paid for by Doherty (although it may be awhile before that is proven), and there were misleading (lies?) questions posed. That is a fatal flaw in his campaign in my estimation.
JC Says:
July 17th, 2010 at 10:18 am
Does it do any good to characterize the poll as a “Push.” I suppose it does, only if you are deeply invested in the success of Donoghue. But if you are an undecided Democrat, this poll does not look so bad. You can try to make the case that this poll was specifically designed to taint voter perceptions of Donoghue, but you can equally say that Doherty is just doing what any sensible candidate would do…probing for possible opponent weaknesses and trying to figure out if he can put together a campaign that has a realistic chance of success.

After all, if Doherty can’t show potential donors and party faithful that he can wage a viable, winnable campaign…he’s finished.
Peekaboo Says:
July 17th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
This is the second tactic that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The first was when you posted something positive about Eileen, Lynne, and a bunch of new commenters showed up with carefully composed paeans to Doherty or slams on Donoghue. Two strikes in my book. Pangy was a class act; I don’t want him replaced with a trickster.
joe from Lowell Says:
July 17th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
The first was when you posted something positive about Eileen, Lynne, and a bunch of new commenters showed up with carefully composed paeans to Doherty or slams on Donoghue.

I remember that.

Hey, did you know that whatshisname has a lot of appeal among younger voters? I do, because six different people I’d never seen on here before all told me that at exactly the same time.
JC Says:
July 18th, 2010 at 11:20 am
I am seeing reports now that Doherty states absolutely that neither he nor his camp are behind the referenced poll.

Does anyone know the truth? Are these alleged Doherty denials accurate?
Prince Charming Says:
July 18th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Mimi: I noticed you responded on that “other blog”, you know, the one with the typos? Why do you even bother to engage that asshat in productive conversation? He won’t endorse anybody, just take shots at everybody. He gives the Sun a pass (must have a relative with a paper route) and has had to apologise more times than Tiger Woods. Believe me, if Doherty is wooing Nuttier, they’re more desperate than you think.
paul@01852 Says:
July 18th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
JC, Doherty in today’s Sun refuses to either confirm or DENY that his campaign is responsible. Donoghue’s campaign has stated that they have not (as yet) conducted any polling.
Mimi Says:
July 18th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
Paul:

You are right. I should not have responded. I will not do it again. But I am going to put my energy on connecting the dots.
Mr. Lynne Says:
July 18th, 2010 at 10:44 pm
That guy just went down a few steps in my opinion of him. For him to be taken at his word, he either believes Mimi and Lynne are lying or participating in a group delusion. If he doesn’t ‘know’ that the poll exists, that means he isn’t taking Lynn nor Mimi nor Dick Howe at their word… the only other options are delusion or conspiracy.

Class act that.
Say Whaaaat? Says:
July 18th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
Maybe Doherty won’t respond to the Sun because he knows Kendall is unabashedly in Donahue’s corner. A push poll in the middle of what should be a hotly contested primary election might be a big deal to a blogger, especially one in the corner of a certain candidate. However, is it really worthy of a front page Sunday morning story?

I don’t think so, not unless Eileen’s benefactor Kendall is trying to play kingmaker again. Another DUI for the head of the local housing authority is a much bigger story. Yet that particular tidbit never made it above page three or four.
Lynne Says:
July 21st, 2010 at 8:42 pm
Oh, christ…all right, here’s some responses to the silliness.

to #31, how many ways can we state, Kendall has little to do with the running of the Sun other than his own column, has to be said before people stop trying to pin bias in the paper on him? Jesus.

Secondarily, the Sun has run every single silly attack from Doherty pretty evenly. Meaning, Doherty puts out a press release making much ado about nothing, and the Sun obediently prints it. Now, they also get Donoghue’s response and put that in there too, but once cannot say Doherty can’t get any press in the Sun. That just ain’t true.

If someone wants to accuse Matt Murphy (who was the one who wrote this piece) of bias, please go ahead and state it. Go ahead. I dare you. You’ll be laughed out of existence.

And yes I agree the DUI should have been big news, but again, the Sun is…well, under the control of Campanini, whose hand *is* seen in the day to day running. It little surprises me about the DUI story placement.

“The first was when you posted something positive about Eileen, Lynne, and a bunch of new commenters showed up with carefully composed paeans to Doherty or slams on Donoghue.”

Link to the post, please? I do remember a lot of regular posters commenting, many of whom like Eileen and support her. But if you want drive bys look no further than the same posts where there are constant drive-bys saying the same things over and over for Doherty. (So much so, I ended up having to delete and ban an IP address because it was *obviously* the same exact person posting under several different nicknames.)

I do so love the psychological projecting you people love to do, though. It’s so telling. Whatever it is the GOB supporters are or do, they accuse their opponents of. Sort of like this reverse racism stupidity by Glenn Beck and the firing of a perfectly ethical woman from the federal Agri Dept.

“Does it do any good to characterize the poll as a “Push.””

I like to call a spade a spade. I wouldn’t have liked the same thing happening to ANY candidate. It was definitely borderline at best with regards to rumor mongering (push polling). The items in it were full of shit. And again, will you not respond to the statement I have made over and over again that at best, the idea of polling on these memes is poor, dirty, nasty politics and by itself speaks volumes about the candidate if he indeed commissioned it? Cuz by my book, trying out a bunch of lies and distortions as possible sticking memes for my campaign denotes that I’m out of ideas on the actual issues.

“It is true that one term as a state senator will double Donoghue’s pension.”

Except she never *paid* into the state pension system. I suppose ANY pension at that point is doubling (well, actually, infinitely more than she was going to get without the Rep gig, seeing as it was zero) but that means, the poll was outright lying, spreading a rumor or polling on a meme that was, literally, untrue. That’s poor planning, doncha think? Or else, really dirty. Ignorance or ethical problems…hmm, both don’t bode well.

It’s not SOP to lie in a poll. Sorry!
Prince Charming Says:
July 24th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
“to #31, how many ways can we state, Kendall has little to do with the running of the Sun other than his own column, has to be said before people stop trying to pin bias in the paper on him? Jesus” If you don’t think Kendall has any say as to what goes into the paper, pick up today’s Sun. The Holy Trinity was front and center. Meehan, Pangy and Donoghue. Folk Festival weekend, many extra papers sold to those from the towns. Coincidence? Nuh-uh.

July 14, 2010

Bad Idea to Push Poll Bloggers

33 Responses to “Bad Idea to Push Poll Bloggers”

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