I Get Polled!  – a Firsthand Report

By Ivan Potter

While I was in the midst of frying potatoes for supper last night, the phone rang.

It was a very young lady asking if I would consent to do a short poll / interview.  I love being polled so with the cordless in one hand and spatula in other, I settled in to be polled.

I asked the young lady who she was with – she said “GHY”.  Here’s the questions I was asked.

Young Lady (YL): Are you or any of your family involved in media – TV, advertising and marketing, radio, newspapers?

YL:  Did any of our family work with or have a relationship with labor unions?

YL: Did I vote in the 2004 presidential election?

YL: Did I vote Democratic or Republican?

YL: What was my opinion of Steve Beshear?
 Favorable? Very Favorable? Unfavorable? Very Unfavorable? No opinion?

YL – In a match up for state senate between Ken Winters vs. Korel Hooberd
  (I write this the way she pronounced it. I asked her to spell it. She spelled out “Carroll Hubbard”)
Who would you support? 

In a match up between the following, who would you support?

 Ken Winters vs. Rick Johnson?
 Ken Winters vs. Dennis Null?
 Ken Winters vs. Bob Jackson?
 Ken Winters vs. Sheri Green?

YL: Are you aware of the qualifications of these people? 

  Rick Johnson: highly regarded legal career in West Kentucky
  Korel Hubbard: long time resident of the region and practicing attorney
  Ken Winters: highly regarded educational leader, president of  Campbellsville, dean of Murray State University and most effective legislator in this office
 
YL:  Who would you vote for if you knew the following:

 Rick Johnson – played fast and loose with facts in his recent political campaign
  He will do anything to win at any costs
 Korel Hooberd – involved with scandal in Congress – not considered ethical and and not have the respect of the people he represented.
 Ken Winters – most effective state legislator in recent memory. Secured many projects for his district and committed to family values.

YL: Who would you vote for state senator - Candidate A or Candidate B?

 Candidate A would vote to place legislation on the ballot for extended gambling.
 Candidate B would not vote for such legislation because it would be morally    wrong and lead to higher crime and family break ups

After the interview, I tried to call the number back – it wouldn’t work.

Googled “GHY”.    There is a firm called Garin Hart Yang that is a well known polling firm (GHY?)  Peter Hart runs the political polling portion of the business. Hart runs a more progressive leaning polling service than the call I got last night. http://www.hartresearch.com/about/political.html.  

 Considering the substance of the poll and the lack of the call back number, we looked a bit deeper and read other accounts of “GHY” and its polling practices. This sounded like a push poll, especially with the mispronunciation of Hubbard’s name (which I corrected) and the effusive praise of Ken Winters.  GHY was not “Hart Research” – but another group playing on his name. http://www.tonyspencer.com/2004/10/10/political-campaign-tactic-phony-phone-surveys/