Stenberg’s Race To Play Catch-Up

As posted below (and here), Don Stenberg has attacked the Pete Ricketts poll as a “push poll” – one that uses leading questions to boost its candidate’s numbers.

Traditionally, a push poll has a much more negative light – you add questions that are negative about your opponent (“would you be more likely to vote for Candidate A if you knew Candidate B beats his dog?”). The point is to send a message to voters, not really to poll at all. Stenberg argues that this is a “positive push poll” and because of it, the numbers aren’t legit.

But one would think that Ricketts would want accurate information out of his polls, and certainly has the money to do so. And I would doubt that the Omaha World Herald would publish poll results that they thought were inaccurate or obtained questionably. I’ll give them professional credit on that. And who’s to say that the info Donno has is even correct. Were the calls he questions even used in the poll results? (And by the way, do YOU know any supporter who would change their answer just to get rid of a pollster? Gimme a break.)

Donno’s letter rings false in so many other ways, it seems he "doth protest too much”, as it were…

First:
“The reality is, as nearly as we can tell, that we are in the lead by about 20 points.”

Oh REALLLY? Now please, tell me what YOU’RE basing that on Donny! I mean, at least Petey has a poll, maybe one that used methods you don’t like, but it’s based on something! This completely saps away the strength of your argument above.

Second:
“I can guarantee you that if the Stenberg campaign did a poll that way, it would show us ahead by 40 or 50 points.”

I’ll take that bet! 50 points? Why not just say a GAZILLION points…

Third:
“I trailed in a legitimate poll by 13 points with 10 days to go in the 1990 Attorney General primary and won 38 percent to 37 percent to 25 percent.”

So which is it Don? Are you ahead or are you behind?

Oh and by the way, I noticed that Mr. Stenberg is now officially the first to go negative in this campaign -- attacking Pete Ricketts by name in this e-mail. And I know that this didn’t just go to “supporters”. So Don, did you just break your own pledge? Will you refuse to debate yourself? These are things we want to know…

Finally this race has a little juice.