GA gets Push-Polled

Yes, I received on of those calls yesterday.

From a pollster who identified his polling group as The New Jersey Opinion Research Center calling from (800) 251-5850. It was a push-poll with sharply anti-Zimmer facts and figures tailored to the less-informed crowd, echoing talking points coming from Zimmer's loudest critics on the City Council (the usual suspects) and a few loose screws borrowed from Swibinski's 50K PBA /PSOA tool chest.

So the question is who paid for the poll?

Politickernj.com cites the opinion of one person, Tony Soares, who received the same call; he's also cited as the only poll responder "on record".

Add me to the record; the pollster took my name.

And I took notes during the poll, asking the pollster to slow down and repeat himself. So here are most of the questions, not verbatim, but nearly.

Now YOU decide who you think solicited this anti-Zimmer administration push-poll:

  • Do you feel Hoboken is on the right track or wrong track?
  • Rate your feelings about each person: favorable or unfavorable, somewhat or very:
Dawn Zimmer
Mike Russo
Mike Lenz
Gov. Christie
Ravi Bhalla
Brian Stack
Tim Occhipinti
Carol Marsh
Robert Menendez
Beth Mason
Tom DeGise
Barack Obama
Hoboken PBA

  • Rate Dawn Zimmer's job performance
  • Rate Ravi Bhalla's job performance
  • Rate Beth Mason's job performance
  • How certain would you be to support Zimmer if she runs again?
  • Who would you support for the next mayoral race: Dawn Zimmer or Carol Marsh?
  • Who would you support in the next Democratic Primary for Senate: Dawn Zimmer or Brian Stack?
  • Who would you support in the next Democratic Primary for Freeholder: Anothony Romano or Beth Mason?
  • Who would you support for the next County Executive: Beth Mason or Tom DeGise?
  • If you were told the City had a $20 million surplus, how would you want it used?
-to prevent police layoffs
-put in a fund to avoid future tax increases
- cut taxes now
  • Dawn Zimmer recently announced she's cutting 18 police jobs while the city has a $20 million surplus. Do you think she should use the money to:
-layoff the 18 police officers
-give the 18 police officers their jobs back
  • DO you AGREE or DISAGREE with the following statements:
  1. Beth Mason cares about people like me
  2. Dawn Zimmer cares about people like me
  3. When Dawn Zimmer became mayor she promised to cut taxes by 25%
  4. Dawn Zimmer is bringing all factions of Hoboken togeether
  5. Every incumbent should be voted OUT
  6. Beth Mason is standing up for good government
  • Would you be more or less likely to vote for Dawn Zimmer again for mayor if you KNEW:
  1. She was giving large raises to personal aides while she was laying off 18 police officers?
  2. That recently Mayor Dawn Zimmer and her City Council pulled out of selling our municipal garage to a developer for $25 million and now the city's responsibile for paying back the $15 million it borrowed against the garage and will lose $10 million that the City would have grossed from the sale?
  • Which of the following news outlets do you read regularly to get information on Hoboken and Hoboken politics?
  1. The Hoboken Journal
  2. Grafix Avenger (ha ha ha ha... they call THIS a "news outlet"?.. ha ha ha)
  3. Hoboken411
  4. The Jersey Journal
  5. The Hoboken Reporter
  6. Mile Square View
  • Do you watch City Council meetings?

Well, what do you think?

In spite of some speculation on politickernj.com that it was a 'fake poll' I'd say this was the real thing. Because I'm one of those jerks that answers the phone for pollsters so I know the drill. This was the drill. AND... a Wallace 'mommy' who is disengaged from the political scene told me she got the same call; she lives in Councilman Cunningham's Ward. It looks like a pretty sweeping sampling is being taken around our city.

My favorite part of the poll was hearing Grafix Avenger called a "news outlet".

I almost busted a gut on that one.

I wonder if the person who wrote that question has ever BEEN here?

Comments

  1. GA

    I know that this is asking for way to much, but won't she Just. Go. Away.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My favorite was Beth being responsible for the County the largest paving job. And moving the garage out of residential, shared services,Carol vs. Dawn,etc.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congrats,

    GA, Now that you and I officially tainted Lady Elizabeth's crappy poll you know her consultants will have hell to pay!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Not a news outlet? NOT a news outlet? Just freakin' great! When were you planning on telling us? I've been quoting Griswell all day !*@#!

    Anyway....
    For this poll, in this economy, there's got to be an out of work bullshit artist who can do way better than this. They aren't even trying.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Did someone call for an out of work bullshit artist? Ah, Griswell, thine essence is timing.

    Anyhoooo, I understand that somewhere between 0 and 50 questions were about the Reached For Comment news service. So, playing it conservative, I'll assume we were the subject of 25 questions. Not bad. Looks like you signed on with a winner.

    About the poll. These work best before 4th grade. Let your daughter answer the phone next time. Give candidate Raisin a chance.

    Back to business. Last night's meeting was awash in disastrously, hideously, appallingly good material. We should have another copy out in a few days.

    Please note for future, we cannot redeem Chuckie Cheese coinage for payment and they get stuck in parking meters quite readily. And the bickering with the meter lady afterward, ach du lieber. "Well I don't want to live in a country where Chuckie Cheese can't be president" was where I left it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Griswell, hold the phone. Those nickel-pinchers you work for are hitting me up for 10 dollars- annually. That's way too steep. I'll try to negotiate them down... I dunno...

    You think they'll take 5 bucks and a handshake?

    ReplyDelete
  7. You weren't "push-polled" - you were "message-tested"

    See:
    http://www.politickernj.com/patrick-murray/40975/adventures-campaign-message-polling-part-2
    and
    http://monmouthpoll.blogspot.com/2010/07/adventures-in-campaign-message-polling.html

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beth Mason has only one goal in her poll,
    and for that she will sell her soul,
    She claims in her prior run "One goal yours",
    but her coveting the Mayorship is really hers,
    For that she will pander and partner with Bajardi 411 the troll.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for checking in, Mr. Murray.

    I was wrapping up another post-- a declaration of certainty that the call was a push-poll when I saw your comment here. So I'll defer to your expertise on the subject, and look forward to reading your article.

    But doesn't the embedding of deliberate, disproven misinformation change your conclusion? For example, the $20 million dollar surplus figure repeated several times is actually $12 million. And results are worthless when the questions are thus skewed, it's really about the delivery of 'un-facts'.

    Maybe you've answered that in your piece.

    Thanks again.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Read Mr. Murray's piece with great interest. In great measure what he is calling "message-tested" I call "punk'd".

    ReplyDelete

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