Against my usual policy, I answered the phone from a number I didn't recognize. It turned out to be a pollster. Like I always do when I get a telemarketing or similar call, I asked where they got the number because it's unlisted. He answered that they were using the voter registration list. Okay, I thought, let's see where this goes.
One thing the pollster -- who is just a college kid making a buck, turns out -- didn't know is that I used to be an officer of my district. First a Precinct Committee Officer, then Treasurer. Because of my health, I am not as involved as I used to be but I keep up on our district. That's how I know that this was a push poll.
Follow me across the orange swirly for more...
So, the pollster asked me about name recognition and when I heard the name "Tim Sheldon," I got suspicious. Then Kathy Haigh was listed. Now, my first "assignment" for the 35th district was getting Kathy elected. I know Kathy and she's good people, so trying to paint her as a "tax and spend liberal" doesn't work with me.
But I digress. One of the other names given was Irene Bowling, who I don't know personally but know about. She is running against Sheldon for the State Senate seat in the 35th. Because she is an actual Democrat, I support her over Sheldon.
Then came the statements that I should agree or disagree on as pertains to the upcoming election. As most of you know, this is where word usage comes into play. They went like this:
Pollster: Do you support Obamacare, the government take-over of our ---
Me: Excuse me, but it the the Affordable Care Act and, yes, I support it.
There were a couple more questions in this vein, meant to elicit a knee-jerk reaction. And they did, just not the one the writers of the poll expected. When I was asked what issue was most important this election, one of the choices was "cut government spending." Which is a big dog whistle. I chose "roads and infrastructure" thinking of the road I live along and the repaving it badly needs, as well as the bridge collapse in Mount Vernon.
Then came the statements about the candidates and if they would make me more or less likely to vote for the candidate. One of these, concerning Sheldon, was that he had crossed the aisle and was working with a bipartisan group. The Majority Coalition has stonewalled in our legislature for the past year. It is not bipartisan so much as it is a bunch of Republicans and a couple of DINOs.
All of the statements touting Shelden's "accomplishments" were worded to make him sound like a great guy, super Democrat, etc. etc. He supports an education plan that would "cut spending" and "focus on teachers and students." This is the "Education First" program, which is so bad that our NCLB waiver was revoked.
The statements regarding Tim Sheldon painted him as the "good guy" while all the ones about Irene Bowling were phrased so as to make her sound like a horrible liberal. She supports Obamacare.... oh noes!
And so it went. He asking loaded questions, wanting a straight "more likely" or "less likely," and me correcting the error-ridden questions. He did get across that he was just hired to do the poll, he was not a GOP employee. He didn't really know much about the issues and people in the poll. I pointed out all of the ways that this push poll was meant to create certain reactions. A couple of times, I was ready to call it quits because of the obviously slanted questions but the poor kid probably doesn't get paid unless he completes the poll, so I finished it.I pointed out the dog whistles that skew the poll Republican. He seemed to get that and wrote down all of my responses, even though they weren't direct answers to the questions. He just needed to finish.
It's bad enough that the Republicans write these ridiculous polls but hiring college kids who don't understand what they are actually doing is heinous. He wasn't even a Washington state resident. The area code on my caller ID is for the Portland, OR area.
I've known Tim Sheldon for 15 years. In all that time, I have only agreed with him once. He is the quintessential DINO. He owns some property near ours, which he wanted to get zoned for a resort. We and our neighbors made a VERY loud noise about these plans and he was shut down. Ever since, he hasn't really tried to hide where he really stands. He is a Republican misusing a Democratic seat.
This article in The Olympian is a good encapsulation of the races in the 35th. I'm not too worried about Kathy Haigh; she's been in office for 15 years and has always done right by us. Fred Finn, who held the other seat from the 35th, retired so we have Tammey Newton to fill it. The 35th is a Democratic district and our two state House Representatives reflect that. But nothing is certain in the current political climate.
In any case, the push polls are starting. That means we have to push back. In Washington state, we vote by mail, which has created a bit of a vacuum in the campaigning. Which makes it even more important to register others to vote and to vote BLUE!