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MARIA RUUD and the unethical practice of
PUSH POLLING
“Push Polling” is a telemarketing technique in which telephone calls are used to canvass vast numbers of potential voters, feeding them false and damaging “information” about a candidate under the guise of taking a poll to see how this “information” effects voter preferences. In fact, the intent is to “push” the voters away from one candidate and toward the opposing candidate.
A legitimate poll has the following characteristics:
• A statistically random sample representative of the population.
• A carefully crafted survey that attempts to avoid creating any bias in how the questions are presented.
• Well trained interviewers that stay to the script, and know how to ask probing questions without creating bias or influencedown the cost? |
A push poll tries to create bias and influence opinion. It really shouldn't be called a “poll” at all, but it tries to disguise its bias behind “survey” questions. This is clearly political telemarketing, using innuendo and, in many cases, clearly false information to influence voters; there is no intent to conduct research. fake polling calls designed to use the perceived legitimacy of polling questions as a way of creating an impression about an event or person. In other words, it seeds people with a false impression of the person being “polled” in order to have the voter think a certain way about them. It’s a very slimy, disgusting and wrong way to go about things.
Here is how you will recognize a Maria Ruud push poll:
• Slanted and loaded questions designed to create a negative opinion of the candidate or issue.
• Call center phone agents that try to influence opinion and change behavior.
Some examples of push polling:
• Rock the Vote used push polling in 2004 to scare young voters that President Bush planned to bring back the military draft.
• AARP often uses push polling in elections to scare senior citizens into believing Republicans want to get rid of Social Security.
• MoveOn.Org has been caught conducting numerous push polls to smear the President's judicial appointments, blaming Republicans for Hurricane Katrina, and falsely accusing Republicans of supporting wiretapping of non-terrorists.
Push polling is unethical.
The following is an excerpt from the September 2006 edition of "Republican Roundtable" featuring guest, Bill Cullen:
Tim Erlander (One of the two interviewers): We need to talk about your opponent a little bit. Apparently your race is getting a little bit rugged out there.
Bill Cullen: I was amazed to find out recently that Maria Ruud is already doing negative campaigning. They’re doing a thing called “push polling”. Push polling is when you call people up pretending to do a survey and plant slanderous information about someone. So you call someone up and say “So what do you think of Mark? Did you know Mark kills puppies in his basement?” Or whatever. I exaggerate horribly, okay? But you plant some bad information out there that may not even be true -- it may not even be close to being true -- with the idea of trying to make their opponent look bad. I think we should be talking about the issues. I’m amazed that my opponent is already going dirty on this. I’m amazed that she’s making these phone calls. I’m disappointed frankly.
Erlander: Well, do you expect anything better out of DFLers?
Cullen: I’m not going to say that globally. I think there’s a lot of good DFLers. But I am amazed. It seems to me that when you’re an incumbent, you ought to run on your record. Stand up and talk about what you did. And I think if you can’t talk run on your record, and you have to turn to dirty tactics then I think that says a lot about you.
Erlander: You know, one thing I’ve noticed over the last several years is the moral fiber of the DFL seems to be just going right to hell in a hand basket awfully fast in a way that I would have never expected. I’m an older guy. I remember when it wasn’t like this. I remember how Hubert Humphrey, for example, had Republican friends and could speak in a friendly fashion and could debate the issues. I didn’t agree with Hubert much but he was always a gentleman and he was civilized. You just don’t see that any more. Things have really gotten ugly the past few years especially.
Cullen: I can’t speak in general like that. I can just say that I’m amazed that Maria Ruud would turn to negative campaigning like that. It’s shocking to me. I’m wondering what where it goes from here.
Erlander: It won’t get better.
Cullen: It’s just shocking to me. Again, if you’re an incumbent and you’re successful and you have a record, then you should be running on your record. And if you can’t run on your record then maybe you turn to negative campaigning and that appears to be what is going on. |
What can YOU do?
(1) Hang up
Don't let Maria Ruud make you a victim of her unethical push polls.
(2) Expose the fraud
Tell your friends and neighbors, write letters to the editor, whatever it takes. Dirty politics should never be allowed to take place in the dark of night. Shine the light on these dirty tricksters! Telemarketers cost a lot of money. They wouldn't being doing it without Maria's blessings. You need to let her know that her dirty deeds have consequences. If her tactics do not backfire, they will never learn their lesson.
(3) Help Bill Cullen's campaign
If you can donate even a little time or money, every bit helps. Please visit his website and find out how you can help.
(4) Vote
Remember to vote for Bill Cullen on November 7.
If you have been a victim of Maria Ruud's push polling (or witness any other DFL dirty tricks in this campaign), we want to know about it. Contact us today at:
sd42webmaster@earthlink.net
Thanks!
More about Maria Ruud's Radical Plan for Minnesota:
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