A couple of columnists in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal are reporting that an outfit called
Moore Information may have broken a Wisconsin state law by failing to disclose who had paid for them to ask certain questions in their poll -- in particular, a push-poll question.
This month, Oregon-based Moore Information called hundreds of state residents to ask them questions about the presidential contest.Little did the questioner know that one of the respondents was Krajewski, who immediately began taking notes. And when the survey veered toward becoming a push poll - encouraging answers with slanted questions, particularly about the current swift-boat controversy - Krajewski quickly called foul.
And when a political veteran such as Krajewski calls foul, he knows whom to call to make a little mischief.
"I wrote the affidavit so I would have an accurate representation, to the best of my recollection, of what happened," Krajewski said, sounding as innocent as an altar boy.
"I gave it to the Kerry people; I thought they should be aware of it."
Krajewski, a veteran spinmeister [Note: Krajewski is a lobbyist for one of the Indian tribes with casinos in Wisconsin], said he was "terribly offended" by one question in particular.
The question, as Krajewski wrote in his affidavit: "Whose position do you think is closer to the truth - those 'veterans who served with John Kerry' and say that he does not deserve the medals that he received, or John Kerry who disagrees with the veterans that he served with and who appear in the ad?"
Now, the question is tacky and, as columnists Spivak and Bice put it, "a nudge, if not an all-out shove," but for me, the intriguing part is here:
Bob Moore, the firm's president and founder, declined to discuss any of the questions in the poll, including the one on the controversial ads put out by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.He wouldn't even say whether Krajewski's notes were accurate.
As for who paid for the poll, Moore said his firm picked up the cost for the single question about which presidential candidate Wisconsin residents support.
He wouldn't disclose who paid for any of the other questions.
"I don't want to open that Pandora's box," said Moore, whose 20-year-old firm does polling for a variety of businesses but handles only Republican political clients.
Actually, Wisconsin law requires pollsters to disclose who is paying them if a person being questioned asks for that info. And - no surprise here - Krajewski swears he repeatedly demanded the info of the questioner, her supervisor and, ultimately, Moore himself.
Moore told us, "I never heard of that law before."
Wouldn't it be fascinating to find out who paid for that question? Could the answer give us more evidence of a Bush campaign/SBVT connection? I'd sure like to find out.
Thanks to praktike for the tip.