My DCCC Contributions At Work
Last night, I received a robocall regarding the 6th District Democratic primary from the DCCC-funded campaign. The first question asked whether I was in the military or a miltary veteran. Press "1" for "yes." And the second question was, "Who would you vote for if the primary was held today?"
The machine then listed the three Democratic candidates for Congress -- and completely mispronounced Christine Cegelis' last name.
Now I grant that "Cegelis" is not a common name, but it took me about two seconds on Google to find out how to say it correctly.
Tip to the DCCC -- or whoever is footing the bill for those calls: If you are going to skew the outcome of your robo-polls by mispronouncing your opponent's name, just have the caller pronounce "Cegelis" as "Saddam" and watch your fixed poll give you exactly the results that you are looking for.
Cross-posted at the So-Called "Austin Mayor" blog
14 comments:
But don't you love it when that sleazeball Rahm Emanuel acts on the Sunday morning talk shows like he is God's gift to progressive good government, and the national media buys that garbage hook, line and sinker?
Look, I want to see the Democrats retake control of the US House this year. But it's not going to happen. so long as Emanuel remains as DCCC Chairman, where his stunts are sure to blow up in his face, costing the Democrats about 10-15 races in November.
RANDALL SHERMAN
Secretary/Treasurer, Illinois Committee for Honest Government
Chicago
I asked this on soapblox and nobody chimed in, so I'll ask here.
Are you sure this was a DCCC poll or even a poll? Were there demographics asked? It wasn't survey USA or anything?
This sounds like some sort of field identification program. Pull out some vets for a phone call list done by live volunteers.
But, that's even unlikely. It would seem like a waste of money to go buy some field ID's with a robo. They don't tend to work unless you have a good name attached to them, people hang up and don't pay attention.
I'd spend the money on mail instead.
And nobody would use a robo poll to prove strength or gauge a race (unless it's rasmussen, suvey USA or maybe even Republicans, who knows).
the problem you're having, ssd, is that you assume that duckworth has a stable of volunteers. if they had volunteers, they wouldn't have brought dick durbin in to prospect FOR VOLUNTEERS (outside the district, to boot!). it should be obvious, from the durbin visit last friday, that volunteers are very dear to them.
duckworth appears to have tons of money (which we'll see from her fec report) but no people (hence the durbin visit), and under those conditions, a robo call might make sense. at least it would give them *some* idea of what the district looks like for her. (i can tell you, from canvassing for cegelis, that i have yet to come across someone who knows of her name or candidacy in the field. getting featured on a sunday morning news show may have been useless if everyone was in church! it's almost like they don't know much about the district!)
Here's a tip, folks. The DCCC probably isn't using a robo-call poll. Even state house races use live phone polls.
Sorry to burst your "I-Hate-Tammy-Duckworth" balloon.
And Bored Now - even if every single voter in the 6th was at church - would you turn down national TV exposure?
For those of you participating in the "How Many Comments Until Questioning a Candidate is Equated With Hating the Candidate" Pool, the winning number is FOUR!
anon 10:17: hell no! her earned media plan may be the only thing that's gone right for her so far. i was merely pointing out another example of where duckworth has demonstrated a genuine lack of understanding of the 6th congressional district, that's all.
as for your ruse, i don't think anyone hates tammy duckworth. i think it's unfortunate that she's a pawn in this game. she has a lot to learn as a candidate, and probably not enough time to learn it. academics make absolutely the worst candidates possible. they always think they understand the process, which is almost never true. even if they're eager to learn, you always have to explain why reality doesn't fit their academic model. i've worked with an one who doubled as a precinct captain, and there was still a giant gap between the ivory tower and the real world existence as a candidate.
most of all, *i'm* simply dumbfounded by the fact that henry hyde retires with the observation that he's not healthy enough to walk the district himself -- and admits the need to do so -- but rahm thinks he knows better (hey, he bought *his* seat, so why can't everyone do it?) and parachutes in a candidate who can't walk the district? now *that's* arrogance -- or stupidity. you choose.
personally, i suspect duckworth will be a great candidate -- someday. it's hard to believe that it will be this year. too much to learn, not enough time to learn it in...
Were you questioning the candidate?
"Tip to the DCCC -- or whoever is footing the bill for those calls: If you are going to skew the outcome of your robo-polls by mispronouncing your opponent's name, just have the caller pronounce "Cegelis" as "Saddam" and watch your fixed poll give you exactly the results that you are looking for."
That doesn't sound like questioning the candidate to me. That sounds like making the forced assumption with no corroborating knowledge that the candidate and her surrogates are intentionally mispronouncing Cegelis' name in order to skew results.
And Henry Hyde hasn't been healthy enough to walk the district in a decade.
anon 10:59 clearly misses the point above. i don't disagree that hyde hadn't been healthy enough to walk the district in awhile -- but then, he never needed to before christine cegelis. hyde was smart enough to realize this.
anon's inference is that it doesn't matter that duckworth can't walk the district, presumably because republicans will only nominate weak candidates who show no organizational skill or fund-raising prowess. i'm not willing to make that assumption -- i don't think it's a very smart assumption to make...
Anonymous -- if that is your real name -- I thought that you were saying that "Bored Now" -- who was questioning the candidate -- was a hater. But apparently you are saying I'm a hater. Or are you saying we are both haters?
In any event, I would suggest that neither of us is a hater.
Doubter? Sure. Hater? No way.
And if you are suggesting that the DCCC campaign is mispronouncing the name of the Democratic party's 2004 6th Dist. nominee out of ignorance rather than deliberately, I would suggest that such elemental ignorance is further evidence of that campaign's disconnect from the 6th district.
Thanks for reading.
Anonymous IS my real name - and I'd ask all the other Anonymi to stop abusing it.
And I'm not saying the DCCC is mispronouncing the name out of ignorace. I'm saying someone ELSE is misrpronouncing the name out of ignorance.
The DCCC is/has/will certainly poll. But I'm fairly certain they won't be using a robo-poll.
As I wrote previously - even state legislature candidates use live callers (and take pains to ensure all names are pronounced correctly).
A poll isn't commissioned to blow smoke up the candidate's behind - it's comissioned to assess the candidate's strengths and weaknesses.
Support who you want - but do yourself a favor and don't get bogged down too deeply in conspiracy theory.
i don't think this is an attempt to poll; i think it's a cheap attempt to identify votes and possibly volunteers.
Anyone who denies the conspiracy is clearly a participant in the conspiracy!
At least that's what the voices in my head keep saying.
Blast! Outed!
...and I would have gotten away with it - if it weren't for you meddling kids (and Don Knotts).
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