Thanks to Crooks And Liars for breaking this story.
I should warn that before we react with uncontrollable rage, there is no word yet as to who is behind these push polls. However, the Republican Party is all-too-familiar with these types of tactics - nobody knows this better than John McCain himself - and their past history certainly allows us to start asking questions.
Key West resident Joelna Marcus received a phone call today. She was asked if she is Jewish, and she replied in the affirmative.
She was asked if she was religious.
She was then asked if her opinion of Barack Obama would change if she knew that Obama had given lots and lots of money to the PLO.
This is what push polling is all about - set up a simple survey that starts off with basic questions that sets up the appearance of an objective poll. Towards the end of the poll, a question (or series of questions) is asked that is intended to sway sample opinion and push disinformation that smears their political opponent.
Karl Rove utilized these tactics against John McCain infamously back in 2000, spreading the slander that McCain's adopted Bengali child was "an illegitimate black baby". These types of push polls gained subsequent notoriety, and resulted in Bush's pivotal victory in South Carolina.
Enter 2008, where the same push-polling techniques are being used in battleground-state Florida to link Obama to anti-Israeli sentiment in a state with a large Jewish constituency. It is unknown who is behind these attacks, but it is coincidence, I'm sure, to see these types of polls utilized in what will be among the most vital swing states come November.
John McCain rightfully denounced the Rovian smear machine in 2000, but as with everything else, turned the other cheek to rally the fringe base of his party 8 years later. He knows as well as anybody that these tactics work, and has shown an extremely disappointing willingness to sacrifice his honor to engage in slimy campaign tactics (lipstick-gate, sex-ed-for-kindergarten-gate, lies about Palin's resume/Obama's tax plan) that help his cause.
It is for this reason that we need to get stories like these out in the open, and we must demand John McCain to denounce these push polls and assert that they have no place in a presidential campaign.