Okay, well, it hit our household. A few minutes ago my wife got a call on her cell phone, return # "Restricted." The woman who'd called her identified herself as being from some generic-sounding outfit like "American Polls" (my wife can't vouch for the exact name of the organization). And here, to the best of her recollection is how the rest of the conversation went...
IMPORTANT UPDATE: I posted this diary three hours ago. I just got another call from my wife. In the last few minutes, she has received TWO robo-calls from the Hillary Clinton campaign on her cell phone -- the same phone she got the push-poll call on this morning. To me, this is pretty persuasive evidence that the push poller was from the Clinton camp as well.
Pollster: "Hi, I'm with American Polls and as I'm sure you know, tomorrow is Super Tuesday"
Mrs. Reviser: Yes.
Pollster: Are you planning on voting?
Mrs. Reviser: Yes.
Pollster: Who are you voting for?
Mrs. Reviser: Barack Obama.
Pollster: Do you know his religious status?
Mrs. Reviser: [Noncommital answer, doesn't remember what she said.]
Pollster: Are you aware of whether or not Barack Obama is a Muslim?
Mrs. Reviser: [Startled laughter.] No, he isn't. I can't believe you just asked me that. Etc.
Pollster: Some irrelevant question about Obama's Senate background.
* * *
Now, obviously I have no idea who's behind this push-polling, but it goes without saying that it's the scummiest, most desperate sort of politics, and that it's intended to drive up Obama's negatives and scare off his more vulnerable, low-information voters, and that the obvious beneficiary would be the junior senator from the great state of New York.
I've been dismayed by the tone of much of the primary debate on DKos, and have argued before in favor of party unity, and against the vicious anti-Hillaryism that's been so popular here in recent months. And there are few Democrats who are more admiring than I am of Bill Clinton's presidency.
But this stuff is just the worst. It's depressing. It's desperate. It's another reminder of the sort of tear-it-down politicking we saw in South Carolina, and of the Obama momentum that's been building over the past week, seemingly by the hour (I was literally watching this remarkable moment when my wife called with the news of her phone call), and finally, of the importance of victory tomorrow.
Got nothing much more to say than that. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go give Obama another $100 now, just to tell the push pollers where they can shove their vicious, slanderous innuendo.
As my 2-year-old daughter would say: O-BA-MA! O-BA-MA! O-BA-MA!
UPDATE: Here's a worthy diary talking about how to handle a push poll if you actually get one.
UPDATE (12:20pm): Thanks for all the Rec's. It's almost embarrassing to hit the top of the charts with a lamely written, 5-minute diary about something minor that happened to one's spouse, but whatever -- I think it's important and hope that word gets out this is happening. I have to leave my machine for an hour or so, I'll be back mid-afternoon, hopefully with updates from hectoring my poor wife to try and get more detail and/or info about who called her.