Push Polls

WAW · Post by **WAW** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 9:23 pm

Wow I just got push polled. Very ugly the longer I listened. Its was for a local DA race. They stopped just short of calling him a n****r. And this is from the Dems.

Do these things work?

Little Raven · Post by **Little Raven** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 9:29 pm

Ask McCain.

Faldarian · Post by **Faldarian** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 9:53 pm

Probably sound ignorant here, but what's a push poll? Just a recorded message about a candidate?

Local politics can be nastier than national ones... the one for the district representative in my area has been an all out smear campaign from everything I've read about it.

WAW · Post by **WAW** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 10:42 pm

Faldarian wrote:Probably sound ignorant here, but what's a push poll? Just a recorded message about a candidate?

Local politics can be nastier than national ones... the one for the district representative in my area has been an all out smear campaign from everything I've read about it.

A push poll starts out like a poll. Say "Would vote for Bob Jones" . Then it gets ugly "Would vote for Bob Jones even if he suports white slavery" and "Did you know Bob Jones hates children"goes on from there mostly to associate the candidate with bad things.

Faldarian · Post by **Faldarian** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 11:00 pm

WAW wrote: A push poll starts out like a poll. Say "Would vote for Bob Jones" . Then it gets ugly "Would vote for Bob Jones even if he suports white slavery" and "Did you know Bob Jones hates children"goes on from there mostly to associate the candidate with bad things.

Ugh...thanks for the info.

Fireball · Post by **Fireball** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 2:48 am

A Republican is using a push poll against a friend of mine down here in Texas. Calling up Democrats and asking "Does the fact that --- ----- is a lesbian make you more or less likely to vote for her?"

Of course, she's not a lesbian, just a single, unmarried woman. But this jerk is as slimy as they come. Perfect candidate for the modern Texas Republican Party (where the leadership is pretty damn slimy, though many rank and file Republicans are good folks).

Eduardo X · Post by **Eduardo X** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 3:51 am

I thought Push Polls were illegal.
Guess I was wrong!

Fireball · Post by **Fireball** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 3:52 am

Unless you can prove libel, it's protected as free speech.

Eduardo X · Post by **Eduardo X** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 12:22 pm

Fireball1244 wrote:Unless you can prove libel, it's protected as free speech.

Aren't public figures pretty much fair game?

Fireball · Post by **Fireball** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 12:26 pm

Not if what you're saying is blatantly untrue, no.

Eduardo X · Post by **Eduardo X** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 12:29 pm

Fireball1244 wrote:Not if what you're saying is blatantly untrue, no.

But you have to be able to prove it is untrue....
What about Cheney saying he'd never met John Edwards? That was an attack on his character, and it was false. However, I don't think it was illegal, slander or libel.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 2:20 pm

Eduardo X · Post by **Eduardo X** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 2:33 pm

Nade wrote:
Eduardo X wrote:
Fireball1244 wrote:Unless you can prove libel, it's protected as free speech.
Aren't public figures pretty much fair game?
They can still sue for libel, it's just harder to prove:

The same liberal rule applies to both categories: To prevail in a libel case against you, in addition to showing that your statement is untrue and caused significant harm, a public official or a public figure must also prove "malice" -- that you acted in reckless disregard to the facts known to you and with intent to harm.
http://www.writing-world.com/rights/libel.shtml

The college paper I used to edit got sued and lost for libel, but that was 3 years before I become editor. I did nothing wrong, although I did get some people angry....