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Kuldebar
07-26-2007, 04:24 PM
Full Article:

Give Ron Paul credit for rabid supporters

Ron Paul is a Texas Congressman and an announced candidate for the GOP presidential nomination. He has the distinction – at least at this early stage -- of having the most active on-line campaign directed at polling companies. (He was also profiled in the Sunday New York Times Magazine.)

Paul’s supporters are not just trying to affect results the old-fashioned way, by increasing voter support. Instead, someone in charge has decided to enlist Paul supporters to volunteer en masse to be counted in polls, and to importune pollsters to admit that there is something wrong with their methods. That's presumably because Paul is most certainly not winning in the traditional polls.

Actually, I should point out that Paul has in fact been gaining slightly. In our July 12-14 Gallup poll, Paul has 3% of the vote of Republicans, putting him in 6th place behind Giuliani, Thompson, McCain, Romney and Gingrich. He’s technically (but not statistically) ahead of other candidates such as Tom Tancredo, Tommy Thompson, Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee. (In the previous poll, Paul didn't have enough votes to round up to 1%.)

But someone within the Ron Paul organization got the idea to have his supporters send e-mails to polling companies to state their preference for Paul.

I’m not sure exactly what the intention is here. Certainly the Paul campaign realizes that pollsters are not going to include votes from people who e-mail them in. But maybe the campaign thinks that there may be a subliminal impact on the mindset of pollsters.

Some of the emails we are receiving seem to fit a prescribed script, as follows:

I'm contacting you from MI, and request you direct this to your pollster analysis for our region. Since your org didn't call me for your presidential polls, I am contacting you to tell you that I am voting for Dr. Ron Paul.

Since you didn't call me for your presidential polls I am calling to tell you that I am working for and voting for Dr. Ron Paul.

My name is [deleted]. Since you didn't call me for your presidential polls I am calling to
tell you that I am working for and voting for Dr. Ron Paul.

I wanted to write you personnal . to let you know that I will be working and voting for Ron Paul. As I was not called or polled by your organization, I thought writing you would have a better effect.

I would like to know who funds your organization. Since you didn't call me for your presidential polls I am emailing to tell you that I am working for and voting for Dr. Ron Paul.

My name is [deleted]. Since you did not call me for your presidential polls, I am calling to tell yo uthat I am working and voting for Dr. Ron Paul. Thank you very much.

Hi I am a Ron Paul supporter. I am amazed at 71 years of age Gallup has never called me or any of my friends. I have been contacted by many other pollsters. Just last week I was polled by [other polling firm]. But I guess that is why the Gallup polls never get it right.

At least one e-mail included a little more in-depth (and actually includes some good points):

I'm writing you to let you know that you should consider your data for Ron Paul supporters in USA Today poll as not accurate or at least I do. I have been supporting the Honorable good doctor and have been in watching in last 3 week alone incredible growth. At our meet up group alone as grown 25%. I'm not sure were you get your polling data but if it's just the land line phones it is really wrong I myself don't have a land phone I just use my cell phone and I'm not sure if you have access to these numbers let alone IP numbers, I think you will find that more and more people are using Internet phone (VOIP) and cell phones. So these numbers should be corrected and a public disclaimer should be roll out that states this new fact in our society and how polling data is collected.
Thank you for your time and have a great weekend.

At any rate, Ron Paul supporters should rest assured that we are carefully monitoring the vote choices of all Republicans throughout the country. It's not uncommon that candidate supporters who tend to associate with other supporters and who see applauding crowds at their candidate's speeches get the misleading impression that their candidate is doing better than he really is. If and when Congressman Paul begins to move up sharply in the polls, I have no doubt that we will measure it and report it.


Source Link, place for comments: http://blogs.usatoday.com/gallup/2007/07/give-ron-paul-c.html?csp=34

ZandarKoad
07-26-2007, 04:39 PM
Instead, someone in charge has decided to enlist Paul supporters to volunteer en masse to be counted in polls...

Ah yes, because all thought, action, motive, and energy is derived from those "IN CHARGE" political thinkers who shape the people in a scociety as they see fit, as a potter would use clay to build a vessel.

OR, it could be that thousands of INDIVIDUALS with the same ideas, INDPENEDENTLY decided that the polling data wasn't accurate, and of their OWN FREE WILL decided to COMMUNICATE their ideas with the pollsters.

... NAW, that could never happen, could it? :rolleyes:

MsDoodahs
07-26-2007, 05:16 PM
People have caught onto to the use of "polls" to influence opinion.

:)

Akus
07-26-2007, 05:24 PM
Great, if I am John Doe who's never heard of Ron Paul, I'd definitely never ever bother with him. As far as this article is concerned, he's a whackjob, supported by fellow whackjobs with no lives and a mile long list of psychiatric issues.

Kuldebar
07-26-2007, 05:27 PM
Great, if I am John Doe who's never heard of Ron Paul, I'd definitely never ever bother with him. As far as this article is concerned, he's a whackjob, supported by fellow whackjobs with no lives and a mile long list of psychiatric issues.


And you were opposed to my strategy suggestion! See we do agree about the problem!

Of course, it could be them, not us that have the problem...

bygone
07-26-2007, 05:28 PM
Honey and Vinegar, people.

Thank you for the article based on the comments you are recieving from your readers...

LibertyEagle
07-26-2007, 05:30 PM
What I'm failing to see is the "rabid" part. What is "rabid" about the emails sent to the polling groups?

Kuldebar
07-26-2007, 05:33 PM
Well, as Mike Tennant over at LewRockwell.com put it:


Yeah, those Paulites are a crazy bunch, all right. This weekend some folks from North Carolina who attended the South Carolina Ron Paul rally are driving to Pittsburgh with banners and banner-making supplies to help our Meetup group prepare for next Friday's rally.

Just as Dr. Paul's approach to government is decentralization, so is the approach to his campaign.

LibertyEagle
07-26-2007, 05:35 PM
Rather than rabid, I call that "engaged".

Kuldebar
07-26-2007, 05:43 PM
The writer was trying, at least. But, he still has his head stuck up the collectivist, err, cloud and can't fathom what individuals working solo or together but not under orders can do.

Akus
07-26-2007, 06:08 PM
And you were opposed to my strategy suggestion! See we do agree about the problem!

Of course, it could be them, not us that have the problem...please remind me what it was...

Kuldebar
07-26-2007, 06:09 PM
please remind me what it was...

Why remind you? It's in my signature.

Akus
07-26-2007, 06:19 PM
Why remind you? It's in my signature.

Thank you I'm really flattered that you put me on the same level as the 9/11 truthers, atheists and white supremacist. Really mature, but whatever.

You can always IL me if my views irk you so much.

Kuldebar
07-26-2007, 06:44 PM
Thank you I'm really flattered that you put me on the same level as the 9/11 truthers, atheists and white supremacist. Really mature, but whatever.

You can always IL me if my views irk you so much.

How's that?