WASHINGTON — Rose Kramer was at her Dubuque, Iowa, home, waiting for the TV show "House" to start at 8 p.m. Tuesday when a pollster called and started asking her about John McCain. After a few polite questions, the caller started saying unflattering things about Mitt Romney.
In another part of Iowa, Ralph Watts got a similar call the next day. Are you aware, the caller asked, that Mormons consider the Book of Mormon superior to the Bible? Would that make you more or less likely to vote for Romney?
On Friday, the calls, which lit up the phone lines in the two key early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire this week, became the target of Romney's outrage, as well that of as his Republican rivals, and the subject of a formal inquiry by the New Hampshire attorney general's office.
The calls, a year before the election, were a vivid reminder of how ugly the 2008 presidential campaign could become and how Romney's Mormon religion could play an important role.
McCain strongly denied having anything to do with the calls, saying "it is disgraceful, it is outrageous and it is a violation, we believe, of New Hampshire law." The Arizona senator's complaint Friday triggered the New Hampshire action.
"We are looking at whether the calls qualify as push polls," said Assistant Attorney General James Kennedy.
Push polling is so named because the surveyors first ask standard questions, such as a first or second electoral choice. But they quickly begin mentioning negatives about a candidate and ask if that would make the voter more or less likely to back that candidate. They "push" the caller toward a negative conclusion, in short.
New Hampshire has a nine-year-old law requiring anyone who engages in push polling to tell the person being surveyed if the call is "being made on behalf of, in support of or in opposition to" a candidate.
They also must identify the candidate and give the phone number where the call originated. Failing to do so could be a felony. No one has ever been prosecuted under the law.
The calls reportedly were placed by Western Wats, an Orem, Utah-based survey research firm. In a statement, the company said it "has never, currently does not, nor will it ever engage in push polling."
Steve Benen over at The Carpetbagger Report believes that this wasn't a push poll, but rather "a campaign testing various messages, gauging public reaction." Someone is testing various questions in order to determine what part of Romney's religious faith will anger the greatest number of Republican voters. The John McCain campaign denied having anything to do with these calls, saying that they were "disgraceful," and "outrageous." It was the McCain campaign that asked for the New Hampshire attorney general to investigate these phone calls. Fred Thompson's communications director Todd Harris said that "There is no room for this kind of smut in a Republican primary election," while Rudy Giuliani's communications director Katie Levinson said that the Giuliani campaign "does not support or engage in these type of tactics...."
Now there is another interesting bit of information from The New Hampshire Union Leader on this story:
Last year, Western Wats conducted polling that was intended to spread negative messages about Democratic candidates in a House race in New York and the Senate race in Florida. The Tampa Tribune and the Albany Times Union reported that Western Wats conducted the calls on behalf of the Tarrance Group.
That Virginia-based firm now works for Romney's rival, Rudy Giuliani. The campaign has paid the firm more than $400,000, according to federal campaign reports.
In his statement on behalf of Western Wats, [client services director, Robert] Maccabee said the company was not currently conducting "any work for ... The Tarrance Group, in the state of New Hampshire or Iowa, nor have we for the period in question."
Maccabee added that confidentiality agreements prohibit the company from commenting on specific projects or clients.
Ed Goeas, chief of the Tarrance Group, said there is no connection between the Giuliani campaign and Western Wats. They are using a Houston firm to do their polling.
"I know absolutely it's not us," Goeas said. "I can say with absolute, no, it's not us."
Western Wats also worked for Bob Dole's presidential campaign in 1996. Employees said they used such calls to describe GOP rival Steve Forbes as pro-abortion rights.
So Western Wats conducted negative polling against Democratic candidates on behalf of the Tarrance Group, which is now working for the Giuliani campaign. Did the Tarrance Group pay Western Wats to conduct this negative polling against Romney for Giuliani? It is interesting speculation. And it is interesting that everyone is denying that they were involved in this scam. All I can say is stay tuned.
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