While Democrat Trevor Thomas spent much of last week trying to hype up a phony poll that showed him in the lead in the primary race to face tea-party favorite Justin Amash in Michigan's 3rd congressional district, a new poll released today by highly respected firm Greenberg, Quinlan & Rosner Research shows that it is actually Democrat Steve Pestka that holds a commanding 24-point lead over Thomas in the primary race.
From the Grand Rapids Press today:
“Steve Pestka starts this race with an imposing lead over Trevor Thomas, and is in a strong position to win this primary by a significant margin,” Andrew Baumann, a firm vice president, wrote in a campaign memo.
Unlike Thomas' poll that told respondents completely false statements about Pestka to shift support to Thomas' side, a move that caused some of Michigan's most prominent Democrats to condemn the poll and
call on Thomas to stop spreading lies, this poll appears to be straightforward in its methodology, asking 400 respondents who they would vote for between the two candidates.
Unfortunately, instead of vowing to work harder to try to defeat Justin Amash, a goal that seemingly should be shared by ALL Democrats in West Michigan, Thomas' camp has once again responded to the poll by attacking Pestka and spreading the same misinformation about him that brought him nearly universal scorn from Michigan's Democrats.
While the Michigan Democratic Party has continued to ask both candidates to run a clean campaign so that the winner ultimately emerges from the primary ready to take on Congressman Amash, it would seem Thomas is more interested in attacking his fellow Democrat and taking a "win at all costs" approach to the primary. Unfortunately, that isn't an approach that's likely to help him or the Democratic efforts at large in West Michigan. Not that it seems he really cares.