Greg remembers one Democratic employee who, during a heated local race, "would word some of the questions in a way to make them seem better than the Republican options. It wasn't blatant, either. He would do it in a tone of voice -- a little lighter and warmer for Democrat candidates and darker and more monotone for Republicans. We asked about how positively or negatively they were viewed too, and he added details not in the script. One question was on the candidate's name, and he worded it like, 'Which name sounds more like a governor's? Is it the esteemed [Democrat] or the other [Republican]?'"
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"Would you vote for Maybe Hitler, or Definitely Not Hitler?"
That kind of chicanery, whether Trump-blatant or Democrat-manipulative, has no place in legit polling practices. And yet it is, in fact, the entire point of many polls. Called "push polling," these operations maintain only the thinnest veneer of objectivity, while their real purpose is to influence opinion, not record it. It has a long history in politics, right up through this year's primaries, when South Carolina Republicans received an automated polling call that berated them if they chose anyone besides Ted Cruz. Who could possibly be behind such a thing? It seems pretty obvious ... Someone trying to make Cruz look bad! At least, that's what Cruz himself said, and he has such a trustworthy face.
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"I can assure you that staffers are not hanging interns on meat hooks for the feast of the Elder Things behind this door. That's a promise. #TrusTED."
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