- On Being "Polled" -

So the local Dems called tonight under the auspices of a "poll." It was the most ridiculous thing in the world. It was an interminable series of questions of the sort: "the republicans are evil and eat their own children. Do you support the republicans in advocating eating your own children?" O.k. it wasn't quite that bad, but almost.

Still, I can understand how such push polling could be effective if they had a trained questioner (the one I had talked quickly and indistinctly) and questions that sounded like, well, questions rather than a political pitch. Also if they didn't "ask" so damn many "questions."

After the third "question," I figured out what was going on, but I went along with it just to get a better idea of what exactly they thought they were doing. After a good ten minutes of this nonsense, it was clear to me that they hadn't a clue what they were doing. Or rather, they were clearly trying to persuade voters when in fact they were having the effect of offending voters. Whatever voters may be, I don't know one who likes to be treated as if he or she were stupid. But that's exactly how I felt listening to this pitch: "these people think that I'm an idiot." And just think, I'm feeling this way and I more or less agree with them. How's the independent down the street going to react.

MEMORANDUM

To: State Democratic Party
From: anbruch
Date: 26 September 2006
RE: Idiotic Push-Polling

Stop it. Stop it now.