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/
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