Recently I was contacted for a telephone poll referencing local and county issues. Although the nice young man said he wasn’t allowed to tell me who commissioned the poll, it was pretty obvious early on whose county councilor campaign organization had composed the questions and who intended to make use of the answers.
Most of the questions parroted councilor/candidate David Madore’s “Promises Made. Promises Kept” propaganda, including such subtle questions such as “do you favor increased taxes” or “higher costs to businesses and commuters.” I was surprised there wasn’t a “when did you quit beating your wife?” question.
I especially liked being asked if I was a “strong” Democrat, “not-so strong” Democrat, “not-so strong” Republican, or “strong” Republican. When I asked for the definition of “strong,” the pollster indicated that he was not allowed to speculate. But I’m pretty sure who “strong” Republicans are expected to vote for.
I can see the PR release now. Madore’s campaign will selectively ignore my several answers promising I would never, ever vote for him, but I will be included in the count of those county voters who favor his campaign promises that parallel ice cream, baseball and apple pie, thus supposedly validating Madore in every way possible.
(Sigh) … it’s going to be an even longer election season.