U.S. Poll Firm in Hot Water in Venezuela

[Nambe]

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP)

A U.S. firm's exit poll that said President Hugo Chavez would lose a recall referendum has landed in the center of a controversy following his resounding victory.

"Exit Poll Results Show Major Defeat for Chavez," the survey, conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, asserted even as Sunday's voting was still on. But in fact, the opposite was true Chavez ended up trouncing his enemies and capturing 59 percent of the vote. ..

Critics of the exit poll have questioned how it was conducted because officials have said Penn, Schoen & Berland worked with a U.S.-funded Venezuela group that the Chavez government considers hostile.

Penn, Schoen & Berland had members of Sumate, a Venezuelan group that helped organize the recall initiative, do the fieldwork for the poll, election observers said.

Roberto Abdul, a Sumate official, acknowledged in a telephone interview that the firm "supervised" an exit poll carried out by Sumate. Abdul added that at least five exit polls were completed for the opposition, with all pointing to a Chavez victory.

Abdul said Sumate which has received a $53,400 grant from the National Endowment for Democracy, which in turn receives funds from the U.S. Congress did not use any of those funds to pay for the surveys. ;;

Bushista Thug (left) * * Kendra D-Ore (right)
The Last Four Years in a Nutshell

[lovuian]

1. Did they work for Fox news???

Fox news declared Chavez the Loser too

[alittlelark]

3. Didn't know that

n/t

[Wednesdays]

16. Dress rehearsal for November 2.

I'm willing to bank on it.

[tom_paine]

19. Yep. Exactly.

[Chelsea Patriot]

40. Yes. It's All So Overwhelmingly Obvious.

[plurality]

31. nope, they work for Democrats. See below.

[alittlelark]

2. We will never know the truth

but, DAMN, it sounds Cheneyed-up


PS - is it Chenied or Chenyed - only one is workable as a verb?

[Nambe]

5. National Endowment for Democracy (neo-con CIA strong arm)

http://members.aol.com/superogue/ned.htm

If you read this, it all becomes clear. Papa bush is at the center of this vicious organisation.

[catzies]

23. No surprise. Poppy was behind the 2 failed coups too.

He was even in Venezuela right before the first one.

[yardwork]

27. cheneyed works for me - lower case

And cheneyed this was.

[SoCalDem]

4. Venezuela sounds a lot like Kelli-for-nya..

That plan sounds very familiar.. Davis was supposed to lose to Simon..but he did not.. The whole "furor" about Davis was manufactured.. Crybaby Issa was "used" as the wedge to drum up more fake ooutrage and get the recall effort going...backed by bogus polls that told of how angry the people were (THEY WERE NOT)...Then at the 11th hour when it was too late to do real vetting, Ahhhhnold steps in can crushes Issa, who cries and runs home to Mommie..


Remember...Ahhhnie met with Cheney at an energy meeting here in CA..he was private citizen arnie then.. why would he be invited, if not for the larger plan ahead...

[JDPriestly]

8. Ahnold is hardly an energy expert!

What could he possibly have said about energy that was worth Cheney's time?

[SoCalDem]

9. It was just the "heads up" in case they "needed" him later

I think the repubes had the whole thing planned for him to be governor.. Davis was "this close" to getting the 9 Billion back from the energy companies in the law suits.. Bustamante would have beaten Issa, and HE was gung-ho on the lawsuits..

Ahhhnold has "settled" them for little or nothing.. and the 12-15 billion short, has been borrowed.. So instead of getting BACK our 9 B and raising taxes to cover the other 3, we are now in debt for 12B+..:(

That's how repubes do things.. They borrow NOW and when they are long gone, someone else has to figure out how to get out of the mess.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

13. Republicans: the Borrow and Spend Party . . . nt

[UpInArms]

21. Slash and Spend - Borrow and Bomb

http://www.americaheldhostile.com/ed012503.shtml

[Wednesdays]

15. Vicious circle...

>>That's how repubes do things.. They borrow NOW and when they are long gone, someone else has to figure out how to get out of the mess. <<

Yeah, and then when Dems get in to get out of the mess, the only choice is to raise taxes (because everything has been cut from the budget), and the Pukes scream about taxes being raised. So, the Pukes get back in, and it all starts over again... :puke:

[LauraK]

6. They WILL do this in the upcoming elections here.

We should expect this. Remember the exit poll mess in Florida in 2000. Papa bush and the neo-cons are predictable, we must stop them.

[WMliberal]

7. this seems related to the thread about the WSJ editorial

the WSJ must be citing this group's numbers.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

10. This Is Simply Outrageous

I have no words.

DTH

[Norquist Nemesis]

11. Just shows you get what you pay for!

They gave them the results they paid for and now they're complaining.

[Pale_Rider]

12. Undoubtedly the work of the NED ...

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=16547

[Eloriel]

18. A few more NED - VZ links here

Washington manipulators revealed as helping to de-stabilize Venezuela, to sabotage and to oust President Hugo Chavez Frias from power? Monday, October 20, 2003 By: Oscar Heck
Source: Vheadlines.com
http://www.williambowles.info/guests/ned-venezuela.html

VZ at the Crossroads
NED channeling money to outfit organizing recall campaign against Venezuela's president
Bill Berkowitz, Media Transparency, Feb. 27, 2004
http://www.mediatransparency.org/stories/ned.html

Kerry and the NED
(Kerry supports more funding for it -- most internal links are dead; does have some NED Board member info)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x458857#458885

[Judi Lynn]

22. Oh, no! A voice from beyond the grave, Eloriel

I was reading your third link, from Archives, and almost had to stop to weep, so touched by this post,written by the poster, WindnSea:

windansea (1000+ posts) Sat Mar-13-04 10:36 PM
Response to Reply #38

42. buh bye n/t

Had we only known, we could have all waved and said "buh bye" back to him!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for posting your links on the NED. The information about Gustavo Cisneros in the mediatransparency.org was worth noting. People really need to know how our own most sinister politicians are actually connected to the Venezuelan "opposition." It would make things a little clearer to them.

[Vladimir]

36. And even more on this old thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1256111#1256741

[Judi Lynn]

42. Fantastic info. on that thread.

From a great link you posted about the International Republican Institute and Mitch McConnell butting into Cambodia's affairs:

The IRI’s post-election verdict was that the "Cambodian election had fallen short of international standards." Dr Raul Jennar a Belgian political analyst currently working in Phnom Penh queried, "Which international standards are they referring to? If it is the international standard adhered to in Florida during the last US presidential election, then Cambodia comes out well ahead!" Jennar further complained that as election observers, "The IRI clearly does not meet international standards."
(snip/)

Beautiful!
The Axis of the Republican Right
http://www.irrawaddy.org/database/2003/vol11.7/regional.html

It's easy, once you start following the trail to see the Republicans simply are incapable of handling the power which came when they acquired the majority in the l980's, in Congress. Their ugly, selfish, destructiveness simply runs away with them. Real losers. Deteriorated personal standards with these creeps. They are NOT bigger than their greed, and everyone has to pay the price for them act out their pompous, idiotic power fantasies.

[Vladimir]

43. When you can be traced back

to Pol Pot, you know you've made a mistake somewhere down the line...

[On the Road]

14. I'm Sure They Knew What They Were Doing

and that they used a sampling method designed to favor ousting Chavez. If they called people with telephones or talked to professionals, storekeepers, and taxi drivers, it would have showed Chavez losing. Chavez's support was among the poorer people who are harder to reach. Unlike the US, however, they actually showed up to vote.

[TahitiNut]

17. The polling 'volunteers' were clearly "trained" to defraud.

In an earlier article, the exit polling 'volunteer' was quoted as asking voters "Do you mind if I ask whether you voted 'yes' or 'no'?"

When the voter replied, as I would, "Yes!" ... the exit pollster dutifully tallied a "Yes" vote. Voila!

Reporting an 'answer' without properly reporting the question is sheer fraud.



Q: "Paper or plastic?"
A: "Yes."

[Beetwasher]

20. HEED THIS STORY

If/When Bush steals the Nov. election, the Repubs will use their corrupted polling firms as cover for the theft. As long as one or two polls have Bush ahead or the race a dead heat, they can point to it and claim it's proof they won fair and square. Just like the WSJ is pointing to THIS firms exit polls as proof of fraud on Chavez's part.

[Judi Lynn]

24. Penn & Schoen's Inaccurate and Dishonest "Exit Poll" on Chávez Vote

Penn & Schoen's Inaccurate and Dishonest "Exit Poll" on Chávez Vote
Maneuver by U.S. Political Consultants Violated Venezuelan Law and Professional Ethics Codes


By Al Giordano
Special to The Narco News Bulletin
August 19, 2004

CARACAS, VENEZUELA AND SOMEWHERE IN AMÉRICA: The United States-based, British-owned, political consulting firm bearing the names of pollsters Mark Penn, Doug Schoen, and Michael Berland, committed a crime under Venezuelan election law on Sunday: It violated the law against releasing “exit poll” data before polls had closed.

In the firm’s own press release, Penn, Schoen & Berland admitted that they knew they were releasing the supposed “exit poll” information while voting was still underway:

“New York, August 15, 2004, 7:30pm EST – With Venezuela’s voting set to end at 8:00pm EST according to election officials, final exit poll results from Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, an independent New York-based polling firm, show a major victory for the ‘Yes’ movement, defeating Chavez in the Venezuelan presidential recall referendum.”

The careless and malicious approach that Penn, Schoen & Berland displayed with the Venezuela referendum on the continued tenure of President Hugo Chávez can be seen by the hour when the firm put out its press release: Voting in Venezuela had already been extended another two-and-a-half hours, until 10 p.m. (it would later be extended past midnight) so that all the millions of Venezuelan citizens still waiting on line to vote would be able to cast their ballots.
(snip/...)

http://www.narconews.com/Issue34/article1046.html

[Zhade]

32. Oh, but don't you know? Narco News is "not credible".

At least, so said a really ignorant DUer at some point.

Was it that fool windansea? Glad that propagandist is gone. Hope he's reading this! :evilgrin:

[Judi Lynn]

35. Gone, but not gone enough! I think his spirit ,wink, nudge, is still here.

As HotAir&puddle, he did earn one of these:



I'm not sure the grave can hold him, however, and believe we may have heard his voice calling to us already.........

He may not be as far away as we had thought. It almost smelled like him around here after Hugo Chavez WON the recall attempt, when the next genius stepped forward to pick up the right-wing anti-Chavez gauntlet.

[Vladimir]

Its tragic really... n/t

[TankLV]

46. Yes - a "tragedy".

nt

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

48. You guys are soooo

geeky. ;-)

[Zhade]

39. Yep. In fact, I think I know exactly which poster you mean.

Well, if he is here, he's an even bigger fool than before, since Chavez won fair and square!

VIVA CHAVEZ! (And fuck you, Windbag, if you're here in disguise!)

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

41. His current username is..........................n/t

[Vladimir]

45. Good Olympic games this year n/t

[Judi Lynn]

47. You're right, there! It's a shame, even tragic, there aren't more

categories for events we need to see represented, like "obsessive, terminally stupid, tantrum-pitching message board posting!"

[plurality]

25. Just so everyone knows, Penn et al is a DLC pollster

Their most recent high profile US client was none other than Joe Lieberman.

http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2004/lieberman/liebfind1q03.html

Joe Lieberman-Campaign Organization Joe Lieberman for President Inc. 1st Quarter 2003 FEC Report

Major Consultants and Services
Penn Schoen & Berland (Washington, DC) $110,646.25

[Judi Lynn]

26. This IS hard to accept! Right at the top of the list, too. Thanks. n/t

[crissy71]

28. and wasn't Penn the guy who polled fro Clinton?

[plurality]

29. yep, check it out

http://www.psbsurveys.com/home/framep.htm

Mark J. Penn has been President of Penn, Schoen and Berland for 27 years since its’ founding in 1975 while he studied at Harvard as an undergraduate.
He is best known for serving as President Clinton’s pollster and political adviser for the 1996 re-election campaign and throughout the second term of the administration. As a result of the successful methods he pioneered for the campaign, Time Magazine labeled the firm the “Masters of Message.”

He also ran the polling and messaging and was part of the media team for the successful Senate campaign of Hillary Clinton, serving as her chief campaign adviser.

...

The Washington Post called him perhaps “the most powerful man in Washington you’ve never heard of”.

Way too much to put in. Read it and weep.

[Zhade]

33. Gee, the DLC on the side of the corporatist oligarchy?

I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you!

</sarcasm>

[Zhade]

30. Will the people who scoffed at the truth about the NED now apologize?

I remember good DUers getting called all kinds of names for merely pointing out the FACT that the National Endowment for "Democracy" funded the anti-Chavez "opposition".

Will those who had their heads in the sand about the NED now admit they were wrong?

[Politicub]

34. This polling firm is owned by a PR firm

And I'm not making yet another one of my hyperbole filled posts.

Penn, Schoen & Berland isn't an independent pollster by any means. Look it up -- it's part of the WPP Group. Also part of the WPP group is the PR firm retained by the Kuwaiti government to fan the flames of support for Gulf War #1.

Someone with better connections than me should follow the money that was filtered down to these folks.

[Cookie wookie]

38. What complicates this is that they voted on evoting machines

Could it be that the pollsters were predicting his defeat because they were expecting the evoting machines to defeat him? Could it be that hackers changed the results? If it was paperless, then there is probably no way to know the answer. And who can get the facts about any of it since our media in the US is basically worthless and can not be trusted.

"Chavez foes often criticized top National Electoral Council officials as biased in favor of the president, who was first elected in 1998. They said the recall results were a fraud aided by electronic voting machines.

But Carter said no signs of fraud had been found so far.


In Washington, US officials said the observers’ assessment pressured the opposition to either accept defeat or flesh out their fraud claims so they could be investigated.


Chavez presents himself as a regional voice against US imperialism, and he has clashed frequently with Washington over the direction of his left-leaning government. But he said he hoped the vote result would help improve relations."

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2004/August/theworld_August414.xml§ion=theworld

[sadiesworld]

44. The voting machines spit out a receipt with yes or no (to the recall).

The receipts were then placed in ballot boxes.

:think: Gee, maybe we could try something like that here. :eyes:

[DU GrovelBot]

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