VOTE 2010: Robeson Co. GOP Chairman – “Republicans ‘feel violated’ by McIntyre campaign’s latest unethical tactic”

FROM CAROLINATALKNETWORK.COM
Verne Strickland Blogmaster

Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Posted by Phillip Stephens, Chairman, Robeson County Republican Party

“I feel violated,” said voters in calls that flooded GOP Headquarters across District 7 today. Republicans were angry due to the latest tactic by the McIntyre camp in the Congressional Race – a tactic that in all fairness has been used by Republicans in the past – but always used by campaigns when desperate and terribly behind in the polls.

The tactic is called “Push Polling” and is far from a legitimate poll. The National Council on Public Polls (NCPP) calls the practice an “unethical political campaign technique” in which the caller masquerades as a legitimate political research organization. According to the NCPP, these are not polls at all – but political telemarketing and vehicles of misinformation designed to attempt to influence voters by feeding them false or damaging information under the guise of conducting a “poll”.

The NCPP says this damages the political process as it attempts to injure an opponent without revealing the source of the information or the context. Many states have even introduced legislation to make the practice illegal without disclaimers.

In McIntyre’s version, his out-of-state company calling Republican voters pretends to involve them in a “poll” asking what appears to be legitimate information they are gaining from the voter. They then ask who the voter will be supporting in the upcoming election between McIntyre and Pantano.

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