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<DIV>They should be asking people "Would you vote for John McCain?" also. He'd
get my vote in a second.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Dick</DIV>
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style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=pkraut@moscow.com href="mailto:pkraut@moscow.com">Pat Kraut</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, September 28, 2004 10:15
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Vision2020] Dubious
Polls</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It is why I never believe the polls.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>PK</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=Tbertruss@aol.com
href="mailto:Tbertruss@aol.com">Tbertruss@aol.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, September 27, 2004 9:51
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Vision2020] Dubious
Polls</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=2
PTSIZE="10" FAMILY="SANSSERIF"><BR>SAM HUSSEINI, <A
href="mailto:sam@accuracy.org">sam@accuracy.org</A>, <A
href="http://www.husseini.org">http://www.husseini.org</A>, <A
href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/092704dnedihusseini.dba34.html">http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/092704dnedihusseini.dba34.html</A>
<BR>Author of the article "A Better Gauge of Public Opinion?" which appears
in today's Dallas Morning News, Husseini said today: "With all the polling
going on, it's remarkable that apparently not a single poll is asking whom
people want to be president. Virtually every poll has a structure like this:
'If the next presidential election were held today between George W. Bush
for the Republicans, John Kerry for the Democrats and Ralph Nader as an
independent, for whom would you most likely vote?' Many people will
reflexively say 'Bush' simply because they don't want Kerry, or 'Kerry'
because they don't want Bush -- even if their first choice is Nader or some
other third party candidate." <BR><BR>Husseini added: "Instead of really
focusing on people's opinions, polls focus on the action of voting in a
hypothetical context -- if the 'election were being held today' -- when we
know it isn't. Pollsters apparently do that because they assume they should
be predicting how the election will turn out, rather than offering a clear
picture of what the public is thinking. A real 'public opinion' poll might
ask: 'Regardless of his chances of winning, which of the following
candidates do you most want to be president?' Another way would be to use
Instant Runoff Voting: 'Please rank the following in order of whom you would
personally want to be president.' By asking the questions they do -- and by
not asking these other questions -- pollsters are in effect limiting the
choices of the public. Polls should be a method for the public to articulate
its desires rather than a tool of pundits or parties. Currently, polls
solidify the status of the 'major candidates' and reduce citizens to little
more than spectators at a horse race, or gamblers. <BR><BR>"These issues are
key because of the role that polls play in our presidential election. For
example, the Commission on Presidential Debates states that it will only
allow candidates who achieve 15 percent in 'national public opinion polls'
into its debates. But the current polls are not 'public opinion polls.' If
the CPD genuinely wanted to fulfill its own criteria, it would rely on polls
that actually ask the U.S. public who it wants to be president." Husseini is
communications director for the Institute for Public Accuracy. <BR><BR>For
more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy: <BR>Sam
Husseini, (202) 332-5055; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
<BR><BR>----------------------------------------------<BR>V2020 Post by Ted
Moffett</FONT>
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