Delegate Roger Manno (D-19), who is challenging Senator Mike Lenett, has sent out a mass email to his supporters alleging that Lenett is responsible for "an anonymous, offensive and highly negative 'push poll.'" Following is Manno's message.DISTURBING SURVEY
One of our spies contacted us regarding this poll prior to Manno's email blast. The spy said:
Dear friends:
Our campaign has received numerous calls from concerned voters in the 19th District regarding an anonymous, offensive and highly negative "push poll" currently being conducted by the campaign of Roger's opponent, Mike Lenett.
In a real poll, pollsters test a series of positive and negative statements about both candidates. Lenett’s poll makes highly exaggerated claims about Mike Lenett while making misleading negative statements about Roger. The push poll is a dirty and misleading campaign tactic usually employed by Republicans.
In addition, we’ve received many calls from voters who were asked specific personal information about their religious affiliation, something to the effect of "Are you Jewish?" and then asks the extent of that person's faith. If this is offensive to you, you are not alone.
We also understand that the push poll "tests" several positive messages about Mike Lenett, including lists of claimed accomplishments, then contrasts them against several highly negative messages against Roger - something to the effect of "Many people are saying that Roger Manno is a one-term Delegate, and that he is running for State Senate because he is ambitious," and "Many people are saying that Roger Manno is ineffective."
After running these series of highly misleading claims, the pollster asks if the person's opinion of Mike Lenett is more favorable than it was before this negative contrast was drawn.
If you have been targeted by this poll by Mike Lenett, please contact our campaign at 240-394-2099.
Thank you.
- Roger Manno for State Senate TeamMy wife got surveyed yesterday. She’s pretty sure it was Lenett’s poll, based on the nature of the questions. Questions focused on Lenett/Manno, no mention of Leggett, O’Malley. Interesting follow up question on religion, which they asked very early in the survey – not as a housekeeping matter at the end. When she identified herself as Jewish, they asked if she considered herself Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or Reconstructionist.
Polls are often difficult to characterize because callers tend to read questions very quickly and respondents' memories can be imperfect, even when they are taking notes. For example, District 19 Delegate candidate Sam Arora vigorously contested an account from one of our very best informants concerning one of his polls. The final truth about Arora's poll may not be known.
In any event, this poll, Manno's reaction to it and the continuing controversy over the "District 19 Reporter" guarantee that the burning embers of the District 19 Senate race are now white hot.
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Manno Alleges Push Poll by Lenett
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
My wife received the call and took the poll. She was asked, "What religion are you?" The questions she was asked pertained to a variety of issues and were neither leading nor misleading. This was a regular poll, not a push poll.
My friend Brien Kinkel is a strong defender of Sen. Lenett. However, during this push poll the interviewer asked "'Did you know that Roger Manno ...' and went into a litany of negative statements about him," according to a woman who has gone on record about this political dirty trick.
As this letter to the Gazette from Ruth Burgos-Sasscer, Silver Spring
entitled "Turned off by negative campaign" explains:
"I live in Leisure World and have attended forums where candidates for Maryland State Senate Mike Lenett and Roger Manno have spoken, and have been impressed with both men. I have been leaning toward Roger Manno but until recently had not really decided for whom to vote.
The other day I was asked to participate in a telephone 'opinion poll survey,' which I agreed to do. The first questions were about my plans to vote in the coming Sept. 14 primary and Nov. 2 general elections. Other questions related to whether I was leaning toward one candidate or the other and why; and would I be influenced to support either one by the endorsements of specific organizations or the Washington Post.
I was surprised and disturbed, however, when I was asked 'What is your religion?' and although I responded, I was not comfortable doing so. When the interviewer then asked 'Did you know that Roger Manno ...' and went into a litany of negative statements about him, I immediately stopped her. I said that I would not continue with the interview because I believed it was a deceitful and unethical campaign tactic in support of Mike Lenett and wanted no part of it. I also told her that her efforts were counterproductive because she had just convinced me that Roger Manno is by far the better candidate to represent District 19 in the Maryland State Senate."
In this instance, Mike, I was clearly not "defending" Senator Lenett. I wasn't even advocating for him. My wife took the same poll. I was recounting, accurately and faithfully, my wife's description of that poll.
I have the facts wrong? The fact is, Mike, that neither you nor I took the poll. You choose to believe one account and not the other. That is your privilege. But I question whether that privilege extends to calling one account "100% wrong," and by implication, the other absolutely correct, based, it would seem, on the latter being the side you happen to favor.
My friend Brien Kinkel asks, "I have the facts wrong?" As I reported last time, Yes. My friend Brien has the facts 100% wrong.
I will go into detail about how I know that (again), but first I'll address another factually incorrect assumption made when Brien continues:
"The fact is, Mike, that neither you nor I took the poll. You choose to believe one account and not the other."
I'm sorry, but Brien is wrong again, this time about I "choose" to do. In fact, I trust Brien and his wife. I also trust Ruth Burgos-Sasscer who is on record saying she was subjected to a push poll. Several other targets reported it as well. I believe them too.
I'm not accusing Brien or his wife of lying. I am correcting some factual errors and unfounded assumptions.
Several people made this assertion: A push poll smear campaign was unleashed against Delegate Manno to trick District 19 voters. Ruth Burgos-Sasscer is on record saying so. What is the proof that they're all delusional or dishonest? There is no such proof.
It's impossible disprove these peoples' reports of push polling based on what someone else heard. Unless the subject (in this case, Brien's wife) told the push pollster she was undecided or favoring Roger Manno, there was no reason for the push pollster to read what Ms. Burgos-Sasscer called "a litany of negative statements about [Manno]" which made up the "push" part of the poll. Unless Brien's wife said she was undecided or pro-Manno, all she'd hear is the "poll" part. I believe this is what happened.
At this point, anyone who still tries to deny the push polling happened is insinuating that the several people targeted by the push poll are not telling the truth--it may even amount to accusing Ruth Burgos-Sasscer and others of lying.
It is possible for both Brien's wife and the people who reported the push poll smear attacks to be correct. However, it is not correct to claim that just because a pro-Lenett voter wasn't "pushed" by the push pollster, that somehow proves everyone who was pushed is lying about it. That's unfair and not based on known facts.
In conclusion, the only proven lies in this incident are the lies told in the push poll against Roger Manno. using such underhanded, Karl Rove-type tactics to trick voters in a primary suggests more about those trying to benefit from them than the innocent targets of the push polls--the Manno campaign as well as the District 19 voters who deserve better.
Post a Comment