Monroe County residents have been receiving “Push Polling” calls. A “Push Poll” is where the person conducting the poll asks a question like “If you knew that candidate X was a pedophile, would you be more or less likely to vote for him?”, without any facts to back it up. But the voter on the other end gets a bad impression of the candidate.

George W. Bush hired Voter/Consumer Research to do this during the 2000 presidential campaign, which resulted in the infamous smear on John McCain where the firm asked voters if they knew McCain had fathered a black child, if they’d be more or less likely to vote for him.

The firm remains a favorite of the national GOP, as their campaign expenditures for the 2006 cycle show.

Well, guess who else is using them to push-poll now? That’s right, your local GOP. The party of Brooks, the party of Bush.

It’s a testament to the weakness of the Brooks plan that they have to resort to push-polling to sell it. It would be funny if it weren’t such a serious issue, that needs REAL ideas to be brought to the table.

Did any readers get this call? Let us know in the comments if you did.

See below for deails of the poll and how it’s a “push-poll”:

The call starts innocently enough, asking baseline questions like “Do you approve/disapprove of the way President Bush is handling the country.”

It then asks for favorable/unfavorable opinons about various local public figures, including:

Cheryl DiNolfo (probably wondering if she’s groomable for something else like Maggie Brooks)

Cara Briggs

Maggie Brooks

Mike Green

Jim Alesi

Joe Robach

Eliot Spitzer

They ask if you’re a member of a political campaign, tv, or newspaper. Then party registration and ideology (along the “very conservative” to “very liberal” spectrum).

They ask about likelihood to vote for Briggs or Green in the County DA race, about favor/oppose the county providing benefits to gay & lesbian partners, and then they dive into Maggie Brooks, asking agree/disagree that she’s doing a good job with the local economy, creating new jobs, keeping taxes low.

You know, the standard talking points for every Brooks’ photo-op.

Then comes the push part of the poll:

(roughly)

“Maggie Brooks has a plan which will solve the county’s budget deficit by … [long list of impressive and smart-sounding things]. Do you favor or oppose it?”

See how that works? It states as fact that the plan will magically solve the deficit problem. It makes assumptions like “…and by cutting funding to local schools by 50% which will be more than offset by record state aid!”

Sorry folks, that’s supposition. You can’t state that it “will solve” or “will be offset” as a fact. I’ve been burned by “the check’s in the mail” too many times to believe it.

The push goes on though, by repeating the “Maggie Brooks has a plan which will solve the county’s budget deficit by…” 2 more times! They have other questions that try to tease out which parts you dislike, so they know how to sell it better.

And they compare the Brooks plan to “an alternate plan that would cut funding to roads, schools, and reduce Sherrif’s patrols.” E.g., would you like a dessert that is zero calories and so very yummy, or would you like to WEIGH 800 POUNDS BY EATING DIRT??? (cue horror music)

Again, it’s a testament to the weakness of the Brooks plan that they have to resort to push-polling to sell it. It would be funny if it weren’t such a serious issue, that needs REAL ideas to be brought to the table.