A participant in the Leaders Engaged and Determined South Dakota public Facebook group reports receiving a rather aggressive push-poll call from a North Dakota number yesterday evening. Other South Dakotans report receiving similar calls testing messages to attack Democratic gubernatorial candidate Senator Billie Sutton. Among the questions reported are, “Did you know that Billie didn’t vote yes to veto a section of a bill to support giving support to illegal immigrants? Does this make you not want to support him more, not support him less, or lessen your positive support?” and a knock against Sutton for supporting “a 67% pay raise for himself.”
Figuring out what the push-pollers mean by the illegal immigration question is nearly impossible due to the twisted syntax reported. Maybe they refer to 2011 SB 156, a measure to punish employers of undocumented immigrants that Sutton opposed along with eleven other Senators and that ultimately failed in the House. Senator Sutton also opposed the similar 2012 SB 155, which died in the Senate after strong opposition from Governor Dennis Daugaard’s office and numerous business lobbies. The push-pollers could be referring to 2016 HB 1110, a humane pro-life measure that Sutton supported to provide prenatal care to undocumented pregnant mothers.
On the pay raise, the push-pollers couldn’t be referring to the 67% pay raise passed in this year’s House Bill 1311, because…
- Senator Sutton was excused from the Senate State Affairs vote on March 5,
- Senator Sutton voted against HB 1311 on the Senate floor on March 6, and
- even if he had voted for it, he wouldn’t have received the HB 1311 raise and indexing because it doesn’t take effect until 2019, he’s term-limited out of the Senate, and he chose to run for Governor instead of House.
If Team Noem is already push-polling against Sutton in June, that’s a clear sign that Noem is (a) worried Sutton can beat her and (b) determined, as she was in the primary against Jackley, to use every trick she can to win this pageant—er, election. Team Sutton needs to be ready to respond much harder than Team Jackley did with hard facts about Sutton’s voting record and harder facts about Noem’s record of non-accomplishment in Congress… and her lies about her family’s estate tax.
I have a pretty good idea who wrote that question. :)
There was no reason for Kristi to drop out of college because her dad passed away. Running a farm and going to school is done all the time. Wonder what her grade point average was when she decided to stop learning?
The pollster phone number was from Valley City, ND. When I asked the basis for this poll the woman said, “I cannot answer that question.” She first asked me to give an example of what I didn’t like about Kristi Noem. I mentioned her poor representation for SD because of her continued support of President Trump. Then the anti Sutton questions began. I was surprised at the poor quality of the questions. They were very unclear and confusing. Then I realized that this wasn’t a poll. It was a campaign stunt!
A Morning Consult poll reported on 538 website indicated that about 25% of Republicans were less likely to vote for a woman vs. a man for President. I would guess that the number for a race for Governor would be somewhat less but not nothing.
You add that to the losses that Kristi suffers from possible Independent candidates and this being a Democrat leaning year…. I believe that she will have a race on her hands.
Sutton is an excellent candidate with money and a great personal story. I will be shocked if this race doesn’t get competitive.
Before I got the NoMoRobo app, which blocks robo calls I would preface a conversation with a caller who began, “We’re taking a poll. This will only take 3 minutes.” with, “If this is a push poll I want you to know that I intend to hang up and you won’t get paid. Do you still want to begin because the first question that tries to lead me to an opinion will be the last.” I probably didn’t stop them but NoMoRobo was offered free from Comcast and it works really well. I see the name and number that’s calling on the TV screen but the phone never rings. :0)
I have a hard time believing that a push-poll done this early is going to be effective, so I don’t think this was actually a push-poll to influence anyone at this point.
It sounds as if this poll was meant to probe potential voters for information on which hot button issues to use in some upcoming ad buys, and it probably is being done by outside groups, though a candidate might have some tenuous connection to the effort. Outside groups rarely address issues of relevance, or address anything in a positive manner. They are looking for issues that move voters away from a candidate they don’t support, so they can tailor ads for that purpose. They are interested in tarring someone’s reputation or hammering one or two hot-button issues that are irrelevant to the state, but which drive certain voters (in this case, independents or wavering Republicans) away from a candidate.
The Most Famous Recent Push Poll:
“Would you be more or less likely to vote for candidate John McCain if he hypothetically had fathered an illegitimate black child?”
The tactic was especially effective as McCain was campaigning in the state with his adopted Bangladeshi daughter. The smear campaign was done anonymously, and no candidate has admitted responsibility. Despite initially leading in the polls, McCain in fact lost to George W. Bush, 42% to 53%.
How would this push poll hypothetical influence South Dakota Independents?
“Would you be more or less likely to vote for candidate Kristi Noem if she hypothetically had an abortion while a college student at South Dakota State University in 2011?”
Would the hypothetical question leave a negative impression? An indifferent impression? A positive impression? Would it as Don Pay says, tar Kristi Noem’s reputation and hammer the most hot button issue in the state? Would it get a response from Noem or would it be ignored?
Why not create a 12 month work permit for a immigrant family of 4 at the southern border, cost $4000 plus $1000 admistration fee; $800 each additional verifiable legal child. Admin fee to verify documents, assign a USA ID number for collecting taxes and Social Security, and a USA restricted drivers license. Instead of $5000 going to cyote smugglers, the money goes to th U.S. Treasury. Obviously we need workers in the USA especially farm workers, meat processors, roofers, hotel workers, construction laborers, landscapper and lawn workers…all the jobs that our young workers refuse to do. Bottom line you have good workers paying their own way and taxes. You would think Trump the businessman would think of this.
Don, this is just for starters. It should be a wake up call for Sutton that he’s in the ring with a real dirt ball. There is a ton of material to tear Noem a new one, and he should waste no time lining it up and raising the money to take Noem out.
I like it that Billy is a nice guy. Noem’s counting on it, and that he won’t realize she’s a deadly venomous snake until it’s too late.
A Morning Consult poll reported on 538 website indicated that about 25% of Republicans were less likely to vote for a woman vs. a man for President
But, Drumpf ain’t a man. He is a spoiled, orange, 4 year old brat.
Time for an estate tax push poll.
“Does the fact that your Congresswoman lied about her family’s estate tax burden make you more uncomfortable about letting her run your state?”
“Does a hypothetical that Kristi Noem lied about her Father’s death to win election, leave you with a negative impression? A positive impression?
Rushmore PAC Push Poll … welcome to the resistance!
I think Donald nailed it. And we must also remember that Noem taught us recently, that one can win a race in this state by going negative; and my guess is that it helps if the negativity is truly factual, which this phoning hints to.
No doubt that Noem’s estate tax position is quite dubious, but how do you use this against her with word economy and or with a sound bite?…. I am all ears on that one….
Sutton better get with the program and go after her. She ain’t no daisy so he should not be aw shucksing it.
Porter and Cory are on the right trail.
Have that same push poll outfit do that call with that question….for Sutton
“What will you do when your Medicare ends? What about your Social Security? How do you feel about your congresswoman voting to take that away from you?”
republicans always set the narrative they want to run on, when, in fact, that immigration thingy has already been decided. Sutton needs to set the stage for what is important to South Dakotan’s, their healthcare. He needs to stay focused and persistent on that matter. If you go into the weeds with NOem, you’re gonna get chiggers. The last thing that NOem wants to discuss is her votes to make health insurance impossible to get.
JKC: sound bite? “Kristi lied to us. She told us a sob story to get elected. She cried that she almost lost her farm because of estate tax, but never mentioned her million-dollar life insurance payout or her three million dollars in farm subsidies. Kristi didn’t almost lose her farm. She cashed in and fleeced the taxpayers. Kristi lied. We deserve better than Kristi the Liar for Governor. Don’t vote for a liar.” That text is 26 seconds. Back with appropriate visuals, gray pictures of Kristi hiding her eyes behind her cap, Kristi laughing, clips of the court papers with the estate tax and insurance payout circled in red, and text from news reports with dates and sources (SFAL, DFP, etc.). Use the last four seconds for the disclaimer: “Paid for by South Dakotans Against the Deceptive Farm Welfare Queen.”
I got this call. Mine came from a Montana number and the gentleman who was asking the questions had difficulty properly pronouncing the names “Noem” and “Daugaard.” At the end of the call I asked him who was paying for this polling. He wasn’t sure, so he put me on hold. He came back and quickly said “RPN.” I thanked him. He hung up. A quick google got me “Republican Professionals Network. I’m assuming that is who paid for the poll.
Interesting details… but “Republican Professionals Network” as a Dot Org comes up snake eyes this morning. Any other possible translation of that abbreviation… or was the caller just making stuff up?
If I have time, I’ll stick with a modified use of Porter’s advice: ask how many questions there will be, answer maybe 75% to waste their time, then ask about sponsorship and hang up upon receiving attitude or unsatisfactory answers to make sure the pollster doesn’t get paid for that call.
http://rpvb.org/2016/04/07/republican-professionals-network-2/
Not much info here, but it does appear to be a PAC
https://community.benchmarkemail.com/users/FDB1/newsletter/Republican-Professionals-Network-War-on-Terrorism-Dinner-Meeting–Mon–05-16
That’s certainly good advice that I’m sure I’ll follow next time. I must admit that I was pretty amused by the silliness of most of the questions, so I played along and laughed through the entire call. I cannot overstate the abruptness with which the phonecall ended when he came back from his hold. He said “RPN” and then hung up. I think he heard my “thanks” before he hung up. Had I been given a second to pause I would have asked him to confirm that I heard him correctly and to tell me what those letters stood for.
This guy’s name is a joke,right? Garrison Coward – Executive Director – Republican Professionals ..
Could it be an alias for Cadet Bonespurs?
RPN is a center-right organization that provides social and business-networking opportunities to individuals who share interest in the principles of limited government, economic growth, strong national defense and greater opportunity for all Americans.
from rpnva.org rpn virginia