No, I don't do phone opinion polls: they usually turn into "Did you know that..." pushes, and in any event I want them to live in uncertainty. Just for laughs, let the candidates try to say what they mean rather than what they think will poll well.
And the assumptions behind the calls are rather insulting. Do they think I don't try to keep posted? That I can be swayed against intellect and conscience by smoke blown in my eyes?
Soon comes the deluge of glossy fliers that don't actually say anything. This year I'm going to save them and see how much they mass.
It's all training for when you retire to NH
ReplyDeleteYou mean it can get worse? Ah: I forgot about the presidential primaries. Is one allowed to use the old joy buzzers on candidates?
ReplyDeleteWe just came out of the recall effort... About the only good thing was that there weren't door-to-door canvassers; though now that I think of it I wonder why not. Do they really put their faith in glossy paper and TV ads, or are they worried about getting into fights?
Our phone answering machine is on all the time, so I rarely get tricked into answering a solicitation or poll call. Everything these guys need to know about me, they can tell from the occasional checks I send to a candidate.
ReplyDeleteI was just reading earlier this week about the election fatigue this year in Wisconsin. What an extraordinary series of elections you have had lately. It's hard to imagine that there's anyone left undecided, but I know that's delusional. Some people can never stop being undecided, but it's not a matter of lacking information, it's a matter of lacking any basis for choosing among alternatives, which is a problem between the ears.
Funny thing is, reports are that the polls before the start of the big push rang up the same as the polls the day before and were similar to the voting results. Lots of $$ didn't change minds, on the average. Of course there's no mention in the polls of what fraction of people hung up--that would be an interesting statistic to follow.
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