Friday, September 19, 2008
JTA has more on that supposed "push poll" from the Republican Jewish Coalition (previous: Pat Buchanan: 'My position on Israel is...a lot closer to Barack Obama's than it is John McCain.'): Experts say RJC survey was no 'push poll,'
but Dems say it was misleading
Democratic and GOP pollsters say that in at least one respect the Republican Jewish Coalition has received a bum wrap: Despite initial suggestions to the contrary, the RJC's recent survey testing negative messages about Barack Obama was not a "push poll."...
...Democrats now concede that the RJC did not conduct a push poll, though they continue to insist that the messages the organization was testing were filled with distortions and untruths. They have called on Brooks to release the full list of questions...
...Democratic pollster Mark Mellman, who was John Kerry's pollster during the 2004 presidential campaign, said the lengthy list of questions appears to indicate that the survey was designed to test messages and "did not meet the definition of a push poll," which usually lasts for a much shorter time than a regular survey, since the point is to spread the negative message to as many people as possible.
While clearing the RJC of the push poll claim, Mellman said it appears the organization was testing messages that wouldn't stand up to scrutiny -- and that he wouldn't test as a pollster...
Not only was the poll not a push-poll, but the messages it was, in part, testing were accurate, as Omri has examined here: Democrats Outraged Over Anti-Obama Jewish-Issues Poll Questions That Are... Umm... Demonstrably True
* Obama's political advisors are "pro-Palestinian" - true. They also have a habit of popping up in places like Syria, where they do things like promise Assad that the US will work to push Israel into a land-for-peace swap.
* Obama once said "the Palestinians have suffered the most" - the quote was actually "nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people", but true.
* The president of Iran also "endorsed Obama" - true.
* Obama "supported a united Jerusalem and then switched his opinion and believed in a divided Jerusalem" - true. Which makes sense when you consider that his foreign policy advisers think Israel needs to put Jerusalem on the table.
* Jimmy Carter's "anti-Israel national security adviser is one of Barack Obama's foreign policy advisers" - true.
Read the rest. He has stuff the RJC left out.
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