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Campaign Fizz: It Meets the Traditional Definition of a Push Poll
THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED TO REFLECT A CLARIFICATION WE RAN ON TUESDAY.
Your one-stop shop for today's local news, gossip, and analysis.
• Last week, as the PI.com reported, Citizens Against Raising Car Tabs did a nine-question robo-poll that car-tab supporters called a push poll.
This afternoon, PubliCola learned more details about what the poll actually asked about the $60 car-tab proposal, which will pay for transit improvements, bike and pedestrian amenities, and road maintenance and upgrades.
The poll's questions reportedly implied that the proposal was simultaneously "too vague" and that it would, specifically, build 120 new bike parking spots (the city has not figured out what it would build to that level of detail); stating that it doesn't include money for bridges (true, because bridges were funded by 2008's Bridging the Gap; the measure does, however, include $59 million a year for roads.) FOR FULL CLARIFICATION ON OUR ORIGINAL POST, CLICK HERE .
Metro Trolleybus: Not a Streetcar
Was the survey a "push poll"? It certainly meets the traditional definition: A misleading poll designed to sway voter opinion with negative information. In addition, some of the claims in the poll, as reported to PubliCola, appear to be not just misleading but false, as with the question equating electric trolley bus money with "streetcar planning."
• Gov. Chris Gregoire endorsed city council member Jean Godden today, saying the two-term council member has had a "special place in [Gregoire's] heart" ever since the two traveled to Morocco in 2002 as part of a delegation (led by Godden's longtime campaign consultant Cathy Allen) to train the first class of women to run for parliament in that country.
"She has continued to push for progressive policies, rallied the public to help us, and generally been a great ally for Seattle in Olympia and a great ally for us on
the Seattle City Council," Godden said in a statement.
• The campaign for Initiative 1163, which would mandate training for home health-care workers, sent out a long list of endorsements this morning. Along with the usual suspects---Mayor Mike McGinn, King County Executive Dow Constantine, most of the Seattle City Council---was just one prominent Republican: King County Council member Jane Hague.
Hague, in a tough reelection battle against Mercer Island lawyer Richard Mitchell, has been struggling to display her moderate bona fides, announcing an endorsement last week from middle-of-the-road Democratic state Rep. Deb Eddy (D-48) and a recommendation for endorsement from the executive board of the King County Labor Council in September. The board cited Hague's support for the $20 Metro car-tab fee as a major reason for its recommendation, which the labor council itself ultimately rejected.
• At a media availability this morning, Mayor Mike McGinn responded to comments by former Mayor Greg Nickels about his administration. Last month, in an interview with Q-13's C.R. Douglas, Nickels said he was "disappointed" in McGinn's performance and intimated that he might run again. "I'm probably not like the prior mayors who just stayed in [the mayor's office] and met with the big and powerful," McGinn said. "I like getting out there and talking to the people."
Your one-stop shop for today's local news, gossip, and analysis.
• Last week, as the PI.com reported, Citizens Against Raising Car Tabs did a nine-question robo-poll that car-tab supporters called a push poll.
This afternoon, PubliCola learned more details about what the poll actually asked about the $60 car-tab proposal, which will pay for transit improvements, bike and pedestrian amenities, and road maintenance and upgrades.
The poll's questions reportedly implied that the proposal was simultaneously "too vague" and that it would, specifically, build 120 new bike parking spots (the city has not figured out what it would build to that level of detail); stating that it doesn't include money for bridges (true, because bridges were funded by 2008's Bridging the Gap; the measure does, however, include $59 million a year for roads.) FOR FULL CLARIFICATION ON OUR ORIGINAL POST, CLICK HERE .
Metro Trolleybus: Not a Streetcar
Was the survey a "push poll"? It certainly meets the traditional definition: A misleading poll designed to sway voter opinion with negative information. In addition, some of the claims in the poll, as reported to PubliCola, appear to be not just misleading but false, as with the question equating electric trolley bus money with "streetcar planning."
• Gov. Chris Gregoire endorsed city council member Jean Godden today, saying the two-term council member has had a "special place in [Gregoire's] heart" ever since the two traveled to Morocco in 2002 as part of a delegation (led by Godden's longtime campaign consultant Cathy Allen) to train the first class of women to run for parliament in that country.
"She has continued to push for progressive policies, rallied the public to help us, and generally been a great ally for Seattle in Olympia and a great ally for us on
the Seattle City Council," Godden said in a statement.
• The campaign for Initiative 1163, which would mandate training for home health-care workers, sent out a long list of endorsements this morning. Along with the usual suspects---Mayor Mike McGinn, King County Executive Dow Constantine, most of the Seattle City Council---was just one prominent Republican: King County Council member Jane Hague.
Hague, in a tough reelection battle against Mercer Island lawyer Richard Mitchell, has been struggling to display her moderate bona fides, announcing an endorsement last week from middle-of-the-road Democratic state Rep. Deb Eddy (D-48) and a recommendation for endorsement from the executive board of the King County Labor Council in September. The board cited Hague's support for the $20 Metro car-tab fee as a major reason for its recommendation, which the labor council itself ultimately rejected.
• At a media availability this morning, Mayor Mike McGinn responded to comments by former Mayor Greg Nickels about his administration. Last month, in an interview with Q-13's C.R. Douglas, Nickels said he was "disappointed" in McGinn's performance and intimated that he might run again. "I'm probably not like the prior mayors who just stayed in [the mayor's office] and met with the big and powerful," McGinn said. "I like getting out there and talking to the people."
