Remember Brooks’ Last Push Poll?
Exile reported yesterday that readers are getting push polled.
It struck me how much some parts of the poll are very similar to the one the Monroe County GOP did last September, as we reported:
It’s a testament to the weakness of the Brooks plan [before we knew it was the so-called FAIR 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.
(snip)
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
…
(snip)
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?â€
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!â€
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.
History has now shown that Brooks’ plan didn’t solve the deficit. It just played a shell game with the money, and that didn’t even solve the deficit. But, as we can see, it doesn’t matter if the plan works or not, it’s all in if it can be sold to enough of the public.
I wonder what those poll numbers look like for Maggie Brooks these days. My suspicion? Not good. Expect to see a bunch of photo-ops with Brooks in the near future. With GOP County Clerk Cheryl Dinolfo.
Speaking of Dinolfo, she’s up for re-election this year. Hey MCDC, where’s the Dem candidate to run against her? Or are we gonna let this go unopposed like the race for County Exec last year?
Because that works out great for all Monroe Countians when they don’t have a choice in the election.
Related posts:
Perhaps the most widely read “progressive” blog in the area might want to start banging the drum on this really, really hard to encourage MCDC to put a candidate, any candidate, in for this position.
Can’t wait for the announcement!
ask bourtis or cook if any candidate is better than no candidate. seriously though, any thoughts would be welcome.
I realize you’re joking, but what’s the point of the joke? That a couple of decent candidates ran and lost? So what? That’s how it works. Would it have been better to have a Brooks-like situation those last two times?
My 77-year-old dad is a placeholder candidate for state senate in his tiny district out West. They’ll probably find a better candidate before the filing deadline, but if not, he’ll make a few speeches, write a letter or two to the editor, have some of his friends and family write checks so he can buy some yard signs, etc. There’s a 90% chance that he’ll lose, but there’s also a chance that his opponent will do something stupid.
Plus, he’ll enjoy himself, and Democrats will have a box to check come election day. It’s a comedy, not a tragedy.
the point is that if we run candidates that the party blows off or races that the party doesn’t invest in, the candidates get pounded. that makes the party look bad and it makes the candidates look bad. that is why it is hard to find candidates for these types of races. let’s say bob cook (who i think is great, by the way) runs for something else. he is going to have to answer for his showing as a clerk candidate. he would likely say that they didn’t have the resources or whatever and it will sound like sour grapes to average joe voter who will just remember a big loss.
I think we’ll just have to agree to disagree on this one. The party looks much, much worse when it fails to run any candidate at all. Also, I don’t think it’s that huge a blot on someone’s political future to lose an election.
I’m with Rotten on this one but from a slightly different angle. I see the point about candidates that have been blown out and all that and I agree BUT - lack of a candidate is indicative of lack of a candidate bench. No Candidate also rusts the party machinery in terms of support and efficiency. Atrophy sets in
A candidate on each line - every election - has a better overall effect longer term than a really really “good” candidate every couple of elections.
Bottom line can’t win elections unless you run a candidate. Can’t grow a party unless you engage people.
i can see your points. and disregarding who is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ i guess the overarching need here is to get some ideas for a candidate. i have not heard of anyone interested. has anyone else? or does anyone have any ideas of someone to be drafted?
[...] caught this little snippet on that push poll we told you about earlier (from 13WHAM.com last night, bold mine): “The county doesn’t do polling,” Brooks [...]