Swordsmyth
05-12-2018, 04:00 PM
Two Republican candidates for Missouri’s U.S. Senate seat tried again Friday evening to strike an unusual agreement for one of them to drop out of the race based on polling, in an effort to take on GOP front-runner Josh Hawley.But talks fell apart when one of the candidates insisted that the poll inform respondents that his opponent is religiously agnostic before asking which candidate they support.
The meeting between candidates Austin Petersen and Tony Monetti took place shortly before a candidate forum both men were attending in Fenton.
The two men and their staffs came to a tentative agreement on three poll questions that simply measured support and name-recognition for each candidate. But then Monetti backed out, because Petersen wouldn’t allow him to have the poll topped with a question asking respondents if they would vote for Petersen if they knew additional things about him, including that he “does not believe in God.”
The question constitutes the classic definition of “push-polling,” in which polls are structured with certain questions that are designed to nudge respondents toward a specific poll result.
After the ill-fated meeting, Petersen and Monetti joined three other GOP primary candidates in the forum — which Hawley didn’t attend — to debate immigration, health care, foreign policy and other issues on which they generally agreed with standard GOP positions.
They’re vying for the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who is considered one of the most vulnerable incumbent Senate Democrats in the country. Hawley is the presumed leader in the race for the GOP nomination in terms of money and party support.
More at: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/senate-candidates-unusual-drop-out-bargain-collapses-over-religion-question/article_d3c59de5-c4bd-52a6-875c-ca4443351c8d.html
The meeting between candidates Austin Petersen and Tony Monetti took place shortly before a candidate forum both men were attending in Fenton.
The two men and their staffs came to a tentative agreement on three poll questions that simply measured support and name-recognition for each candidate. But then Monetti backed out, because Petersen wouldn’t allow him to have the poll topped with a question asking respondents if they would vote for Petersen if they knew additional things about him, including that he “does not believe in God.”
The question constitutes the classic definition of “push-polling,” in which polls are structured with certain questions that are designed to nudge respondents toward a specific poll result.
After the ill-fated meeting, Petersen and Monetti joined three other GOP primary candidates in the forum — which Hawley didn’t attend — to debate immigration, health care, foreign policy and other issues on which they generally agreed with standard GOP positions.
They’re vying for the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who is considered one of the most vulnerable incumbent Senate Democrats in the country. Hawley is the presumed leader in the race for the GOP nomination in terms of money and party support.
More at: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/senate-candidates-unusual-drop-out-bargain-collapses-over-religion-question/article_d3c59de5-c4bd-52a6-875c-ca4443351c8d.html