Push Polling -- What To Watch Out For

A good topic, ASLANSPAL.

I guess there could be a registry created and people could sign up to not be called by such groups.

I have caller ID. If I don't recognize the name or number, then I usually don't answer the call and let it go to the answering machine which I can hear if the caller starts to leave a message.

 

I usually get a couple each week, on average. I must say though, I haven't gotten nearly as many this year. Maybe it's because I keep hanging up on them.

If I was getting 10 a day, I would say make it illegal. At that point, it becomes a nuisance and intrudes on my personal life.

As of right now, it's kind of annoying, but I usually hang up in the first 10 seconds of the conversation, so it's nothing I can't deal with. It's usually a recording at the start anyway.

I guess the reason I'm not receiving as many is because I didn't send my "dues" in to the RNC this year, I haven't signed up on any political message boards this year, and I hang up on them when they do call. Maybe they've taken me off most of the lists.

 

I think it would probably be protected by free speech. No one is forced to answer their phone or listen. I would love to see a law that forces the callers to identify themselves and the organization at the start of the call but these polls are going to be run by secondary corporations to separate them from actual candidates anyway.

 

I think so, too.

It's annoying, though.

Yeah, they do identify themselves by the secondary corporation. Their spiel gives them away, but by then, they have already wasted your time. It may backfire and creat hostility towards the candidate they favor.

 

How would a law define a "push poll"? What is a push poll to some is not to others. Polling is not an abuse of the electoral process. It is annoying, but hang up. Don't listen, and don't respond (and then don't complain when your side is underrepresented in the polling results).

For someone who is supposed to be all about the government not taking away liberty and freedom, this is a very strange thread for AP to put. He doesn't want the government to take away liberty and freedom, but he wants them to outlaw push polls??? Um ... that doesn't work.

 

I guess I'm just mean...

when a pollster calls me, I deliberately give them as much bad information as possible.

One of my better calls--I convinced the pollster I was a widowed Eskimo Democrat, 13 kids, making less than $12,000 per year. I answered "no" to the questions:
"do you think that accountability in government is important?"
"do you think your best interests should be represented in congress?"

When asked, "what is the most important issues facing your congressional leaders today?" I responded, "Unauthorized removal of mattress tags." At that point, she hung up on me. Go figure.

My motto: confuse the pollsters. A few more like me, and we'd quit listening to them altogether.

 

edited for clarity.

 

It may be deception. It may not be. But being a Christian is irrelevant to this particular topic. There are no limits on who can do polls. I can pick up the phone right now and start dialing numbers and taking polls. I can ask whatever questions I want to to find out whatever I want to know. And they may be leading questions, (which is what a push poll asks), but that is not illegal.

yes, i got it the first time you said it. And I still find it strange that you are in favor of government restriction of freedom and rights.

I agree, but having read the arguments from you on this forum I find that you hardly have any moral high ground from which to make this argument. Many things that happen in campaigns are deceptive through their slant or presentation. There are not enough paper in this country to contain the laws it would take to change it through legal means.

 

So who gets to decide what is deception?

Offer what??? What am I supposed to offer?

If you are going to eliminate deception from politics you must eliminate all ads and all debates. You must eliminate any form of political communication. In fact, many of your own posts on this forum would be forbidden because they too include deception.

And who gets to decide what deception is? You want to put that in the hands of the court?

Huh??? I didn't say anything about wasted breath. What are you talking about?

 

Before I had an E-Mail spam preventer, I used to highlight maybe 20-30 spams at a time, then hit the delete button once. Worked great. However, with push polls, one has to answer and hang up several times. Some of them I don't mind. Some are from persons I want to vote for. Some are from fraternal organizations that I'm a member of. The problem is, I don't know that until I've listened to the first 10 or 15 seconds of the spiel. I'm leaning toward creating a "do not call" list for people who don't want to hear from politicians around election time.