poll taxed
The online poll by the Kingston [NY] Freeman that we described yesterday received over 41,000 responses,
and not the usual 500 to 2000 votes from the paper’s readers. The poll asked whether readers believe Rep.
Maurice Hinchey’s claim that Karl Rove was behind the phony documents given to CBS concerning Pres.
Bush’s military record. The result of the Hinchey/Rove poll: 59.5 percent agreed with the Democratic
congressman’s theory while 40.5 percent did not.
A Freeman article today (March 4, 2005) says:
Political insiders believe the unusually high number of responses was the result of voting by
operative bloggers from both the left and right.
Freeman Publisher Ira Fusfeld said that, in the past, local readers generally have participated
honestly in the polls and enabled the system to gauge public opinion accurately. . . .
Fusfeld said the level of participation in the Hinchey poll is telling. “What’s sad is that in
today’s political climate, even a poll as relatively benign as this one became the subject of a
tug of war between the left and right, both of which thought this was so important that they
couldn’t let the other side ‘win,’” Fusfeld said.
Hinchey’s aide Dan Ahouse wrote to several webloggers asking them to get the word out to join the poll. In Ahouse’s letter, he asserts “this weekend, the right-wing
bloggers began to flood the poll and now the results are vastly one-sided,” and concludes:
“I’m writing to ask for your help in stopping this manipulation of public
opinion about our Congressman. Please forward this information to
anyone interested in standing up to the right-wing distortion and ask
they they register their opinion in the poll.”
In response, “mdmc” posted the Ahouse letter at DemocraticUnderground, with comments,
and it was repeated by lowbridge at freeRepublic, including ”Please help the BIG MO take
on Kkkarl and the Orwellian right wing press. Please vote in this online poll.” Chicflick at MyDD
opined: “Important we show those as courageous as Hinchey that we have their backs!” Mozarky2
left a message for lowbridge saying: “I don’t know, or care whether it’s true or not, but let me
tell you, it’s been fun.” Talk about a b.s. moment.
You can only imagine how proud I am that my fellow Dems/liberals have achieved this great
victory. And very pleased to see that they have such important things on their minds.
a new year begins–
nonsense
piled on nonsense
naughty child–
instead of his chores
a snow Buddha
Kobayashi Issa translated by David G. Lanoue
“In response, lowbridge at freeRepublic said “Please help the BIG MO take on Kkkarl and the Orwellian right wing press. Please vote in this online poll.”
Im all fairness, “lowbridge” didn’t say that. He/she was quoting a duer (a member of democraticunderground)
Comment by anh — March 9, 2005 @ 1:39 am
“In response, lowbridge at freeRepublic said “Please help the BIG MO take on Kkkarl and the Orwellian right wing press. Please vote in this online poll.”
Im all fairness, “lowbridge” didn’t say that. He/she was quoting a duer (a member of democraticunderground)
Comment by anh — March 9, 2005 @ 1:39 am