I think MoveOn should run public awareness ads about bogus polls

[Gloria]

...Doesn't have to be Statistics 101...

Just a couple of questions:

"If a pollster questions more Republicans than Democrats, which candidate do you think will do better in that poll?

"Did you ever wonder why certain news organizations report results done this way but don't seem to show the poll numbers found by more accurate methods?

"The only poll that counts is on Nov. 2...."

[wurzel]

1. Absolutely.

[JohnnyCougar]

2. i agree!!!

great idea

[partygirl]

3. the problem is

that you don't know how the polls will swing. Lets say we spend a few million on the ad, and buying time for it and all that and it is ready to air on OCt 1 (moving pretty quick). Well--what if the polls that start coming out on Oct 2 or 3rd favor US by a long shot and here we have this ad saying you can't trust the polls?

[Gloria]

5. Do you think that will happen...Really? I don't.....so do a more generic

"warning"---

"Polling doesn't tell you everything that's going on in a Presidential race....Your visit to the polls on Nov. 2 is the one that really matters...."

or something like that

The main point is to bolster our side so that they don't get discouraged and stay at home.............

[nickgutierrez]

4. Framing would be very important with a commercial like this one

MoveOn would have to be very, very careful that they emphasize that the polls consistently favor Republicans without actually coming out and saying it. That would only invite a backlash from the right, starting up the whole 527s controversy again.

That having been said, this is a good idea, and I think they should be on this. Maybe something like:

"When Time Magazine ran their poll from <don't remember the date> that showed President Numbnuts 11 points ahead, they left out one key detail. As it turns out, Time's sample contained almost 8% more Republicans than Democrats <cite source at bottom of screen>. Is this fair polling?"

[demothinker]

6. Waste of money

All that needs to be done is for the candidates to say in every speech, "Remember, the polls only question a small amount of people. The only poll that matters is on Nov. 2!" Keep the followers motivated and the polls won't make any impact.

MoveOn needs to spend it's money on ads that have more of an impact - issue ads or ads pointing out things about the Bu$h administration that the media are too cowed to point out.

[nickgutierrez]

10. That wouldn't work

The right would simply respond with statistics: a large enough sample can represent the whole quite accurately. Conveniently ignoring the fact that the sample was skewed towards the right... but that's what they do.

In my mind, media corruption/ignorance is an important issue, and well worth it for MoveOn to point out at will.

[demothinker]

13. It doesn't matter what the right says

The people who are likely to be dissuaded from voting because of polls are the base, and they're not listening to the right. Nobody undecided is going to base their vote on the polls - the biggest danger is people who would vote deciding there's no use in voting. MoveOn's ads need to target the undecideds and the persuadables - it's the campaign's job to motivate the base.

And btw, you don't think the right would skewer a MoveOn ad as well?

[demothinker]

7. Dupe n/t

[cheshire]

8. When I read so and so should I realize the author doesn't know about

funding for such things. Money doesn't grow on trees. If you fund the cost of this I'm sure they would.

[Gloria]

11. I do know how much it costs....and if this crap polling is meant to

suppress our vote, then isn't that worth addressing???

If we don't start addressing the dirty tricks in this campaign, then what?? So far, issues don't seem to be resulting in a stampede to Kerry...because the dirty tricks are sapping the whole campaign...

[rockymountaindem]

9. I agree.

That's a good idea, as it would undercut the bandwagon effect that I fear may be generated by some of the BS corporate polls.

[maverick hombre]

12. You betcha

I been saying this all along. The public needs to know that they are being lied to by the corporate media.