Clinton Push Poll

Well, that didn't take long. My email inbox was inundated by messages from both the Clinton and Obama campaigns regarding Sen. Obama's remarks on small towns and cities in Pennsylvania.

Let me start by saying that while half of my childhood was lived in and around military bases, the other half was lived in a town of about 10,000. It was not in Pennsylvania but was probably similar to many towns here. I was not offended by his comments.

The emails were much as you might expect, with lists of mayors supporting each candidate and comments and responses to comments by both camps. Each campaign had a conference call on Saturday. I listened in to the Clinton call (it was my fourth Clinton conference call), with a list of PA mayors announcing their outrage over Obama's comments and their support for Clinton. The Obama campaign also had a call. However, I did not see announcement until after the call was over (and my previous two attempts to listen in to their calls have been unsuccessful for various reasons).

Most interesting was a call I received this evening from PSA Interviews in what they said was a double blind poll -- the caller did not know who was paying for the poll or who they were calling; the numbers were dialed by computer. However, I have a good idea who might have been footing the bill.

At the start I was asked if I worked in politics, journalism or the media. Nope. Other questions were on the likelihood I would vote in the primary, what party I was registered in, who I favored among the candidates, whether I had already voted by absentee ballot, the likelihood that I would vote by absentee ballot. The caller gave a list of traits (ready to be president, able to lead the country out of Iraq, elitist, etc) and asked which of the two candidates I thought they best described.

Then it got interesting. Had I read anything about Sen. Obama in the papers lately? What had I read? Then the caller read a short version of the "bitter" quote and asked if it changed my views. He read a longer quote of Sen. Clinton's response and asked if that changed my views. He told me Sen. Obama had not yet decided if he would boycott the Olympics opening and how would he then deal with China as president (this may have been a Clinton quote). Would this change my view? How did Bill Clinton affect my view of Sen. Clinton?

The last part was a laundry list of questions about me and my family, age, urban/suburban/rural, occupations categories, religious views, gun ownership, veterans, labor union, and so on.

I wasn't taking notes during the call and so have missed some questions. It did seem to be a long survey. And, of course, I may have misunderstood some of what the caller said.