Posted on 01/16/2008 6:45:09 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Oh boy one has to believe that Huckabee will be getting some blow-back from this. These push polls have even brought out the South Carolina Attorney General to make this statement:
“Last evening the Associated Press reported that that an out-of-state special interest group, Common Sense Issues, had launched a massive push polling effort disparaging John McCain and other candidates for president. In their push poll, Common Sense Issues makes several misleading claims regarding John McCain’s record.“Allow me to set the record straight. In the U.S. Senate, John McCain has been an unwavering voice for the rights of the unborn. He has fought, without concern of political consequence, to eliminate wasteful spending in Washington. And John McCain understands that solving the problem of illegal immigration requires that we secure our borders first.“I urge voters in South Carolina to join me in rejecting these negative and misleading attacks.”
The interesting thing is that the AG probably got the McCain attack because he press #? to say he supported McCain. If he had press #?? to say he supported Thompson he would have received something that sounded like this:
Open Letter to South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster:
Earlier this evening, at approximately 8:50 PM on Tuesday, January 15, 2008, I received a telephone call from telephone number 703-961-1077 with the Caller ID of “Hinton, L”. Answering the phone, I was asked if I would participate in a 45 second poll on the presidential primary. After being asked if I supported President Bush and was planning to vote in the South Carolina Primary, I was asked whom I planned to support. I responded Fred Thompson. I was immediately thrown into a series of questions asking my position on illegal immigration, abortion, and others. Each question went as follows: “Are you pro-life” My answer “Yes”. Their response: “Did you know that Senator Fred Thompson [contradicting pro-life stance], and that Governor Mike Huckabee has [supporting pro-life stance]. After answering two of the questions, I took out my tape recorder and recorded the rest of the conversation. Being acutely aware of push polling tactics and negative campaigning, I answered some of the questions based on the responses that would illicit a negative response from the caller. I have attached a copy of the voice recording of the second half of the auto call (unfortunately the really good nasty stuff was during the first half of the call), as well as photos of the caller ID displaying the callers name, telephone number, and time of call. It is my request that you pursue these individuals to the fullest extent of the law. You may reach me at the contact information listed above. Sincerely,
So now you have Huckabee sliming Fred Thompson and making it sound like Huckabee is the only pro-life candidate in the field.
That person who recorded those calls and took pictures of the number that the calls were coming from (703-961-1077) seems to have started a bit of a fire storm. Because there is a website set up for people to respond to annoying calls and it lists the number as well as comments from people who have been receiving those calls. It is really quite amazing and I suggest you go see for yourself.
Here are some of the responses from people going online and complaining about the calls from 703-961-1077.
Just received a call from the same number two minutes ago as well. My caller id said unknown. I love this site and I HATE these people calling my home. Got the call (same number, VIRGINIA in the ID) just after noon, today, Saturday. Starts with the question about Bush. I answered honestly (as a Democrat) to see where it would take me. Obviously it's a Huckabee pushpoll. It also asked if I supported senator Levin, so it's tailored to Michigan.Question is, is it illegal for Huckabee to do this? Is this hitting the mainstream news yet? I should add, it's an obvious pushpoll because the questions lead to criticism of Romney and McCain, and positive crap about Huckabee. It's a pretty dishonest manner of campaigning. If one were paranoid, one could think it was a dirty trick played against Huckabee, since it's hard to believe he (or any candidate) would believe it would have a positive effect. THIS IS FROM HUCKABEE'S CAMPAIGN HQ.THERE WAS ANOTHER 703 NUMBER AT THE END, BUT IT WENT BY TOO FAST TO CATCH.THIS MESSAGE SPONSORED BY "COMMON SENSE ISSUES"ADDRESS LISTING UNDER GOOGLE FOR THIS NUMBER:13296 Leafcrest Ln, Fairfax, VA 22033
Yeah, Huckabee’s campaign push polled my home and cell phone last night. I supported Fred both times.
Any campaign willing to sink to this level would gladly pay that (or multiples thereof) to get the calls made. Twenty grand is just a cost of doing business.
The fines should be increased by an entire order of magnitude (or two), and there should be jail time attached.
Meantime, see this:
Someone had the foresight to capture one.
Bump...
...and thank you!
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