getting polled by corporate america

In preparation for my meeting this evening with my MoveOn handler, I did a little research into the precinct I’ve been assigned, and it looks like we fit the profile that they want. In the last presidential election, this precinct was overwhelmingly against Bush. Gore took 450 votes to Bush’s measly 141, and Nader took an impressive 74 for the Greens. When you take those odds and then consider that 60% of those registered didn’t vote in the election, it would seem to indicate that there’s a huge untapped potential for Kerry (assuming, of course, that those registered voters who sat home followed essentially the same distribution).

On Election Day 2000 this precinct showed 1,668 registered voters. Only 673 of those voters, however, came out to cast their votes. Our job now is to find those other 990+ people, discern which are likely Kerry supporters, and then do whatever it takes to get them into voting booths.

While we’re on the subject of the election and what percentage of Americans think that Bush is leading this country in the wrong direction, you might be interested to know that the Gallup organization is beginning to take some heat for their recent claim that Bush was 14 points ahead of Kerry (when most other reputable sources were placing the lead at about 3 points). According to a full-page ad that ran in today’s New York Times, it may have something to do with the fact that the President of the Gallup firm, believes he’s doing the work of God. Here’s a quote from the ad: “Gallup, who is a devout evangelical Christian, has been quoted as calling his polling ‘a kind of Ministry.'” (You can download a pdf of the ad at the MoveOn site. Just look in the left hand column. I just went to the Gallup site, looking for a response, but couldn’t find one. If you can, let me know.) At least on the surface of it, it would seem as though the charge might have some merit. Gallup is showing the gap to be much wider than their competitors and by doing so they are affecting the outcome of the election. Like it or not, some people do ultimately cast their vote not for the best person, but for the person they think will win.

* This post was brought to you by Section 1971 of the Voting Rights Act, which states that no person shall “deny the right of any individual to vote in any election because of an error or omission on any record or paper relating to any application, registration, or other act requisite to voting, if such error or omission is not material in determining whether such individual is qualified under State law to vote in such election,” thereby making the actions of J Kenneth Blackwell of Ohio, that were mentioned in last night’s post, illegal. (Thanks to Arun for the link.)