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
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