PollVille
OK.
Let's get hypothetical for a minute.....
And let's say you were hypothetically running some sort of 24/7 War Room that specializes in positive messaging, known in some quarters as media manipulation/spin.
And let's say your client had already been nailed for using public money to generate a poll, portions of which were selectively leaked to the media in an effort to push public opinion towards your client's positive message.
So, if you were hypothetically running such a War Room, just what kind of thing would make you very, very, very happy?
Well, how about a new, hypothetically 'released' poll that 'demonstrates' that your client's message is, voila!, suddenly getting through?
Alright, enough with the hypothetical.
This next part is real:
Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver Sun
Published Aug 30, 2007
Public support for Vancouver's striking municipal workers has declined since the first union local walked off the job six weeks ago, a new poll suggests.
Released to The Vancouver Sun today by the Innovative Research Group, the poll was conducted over five weeks and tracks how opinions have been changing during the dispute.
The survey indicates that while the striking Canadian Union of Public Employees locals enjoyed stronger public support than the city at the outset of the strike, people now feel the city is being more "fair and reasonable" than the unions.
Hmmmmm......
Let's see - this is a poll that was 'released' to the Vancouver Sun, but no word in the article about who actually commissioned it.
Well then, let's take a closer look at the polling firm.
Innovative Research Group - not much of interest to be found at the firm's website.
But Mr. Fowlie, the author of the piece in the Sun, does have this to say:
"The union has lost support for its position over the time we surveyed," said Mike McDonald, a senior research associate with the Innovative Research Group.
The poll was conducted July 25 to Aug. 29. The firm polled between 225 and 299 people each week over the Internet. The highest margin of error over that time was within 6.5 percentage points.
McDonald said his group, which did polling for the NPA during the 2005 civic election, but has also done work for CUPE in Ontario, conducted the poll as part of its ongoing tracking of public opinions.
So.......Innovative has worked for the NPA and for CUPE, which is both sides of the issue, right?
Well, maybe.
Then again CUPE in Ontario is a long, long way away from Lotusland.
And, of course, the NPA civic election actually took place here in Vancouver.
In 2005.
Hang on a second.
Wasn't that the election campaign won by Mr. Sam Sullivan the man whose cause just received a boost from Mr. McDonald and Company's poll?
Well, let's just check in with Mr. McDonald's very own website at 'Rosedeer Strategies', just to make sure.
Mike McDonald founded Rosedeer Strategies in 2003, and has built a consulting practice offering strategic counsel, communications services and planning, public opinion research and analysis, and campaign consulting.......
{snippety-do-dah}
In 2005, Rosedeer Strategies partnered with Innovative Research Group Inc. to market and deliver Innovative's research products in British Columbia. Various Innovative research projects have been profiled in the Vancouver Sun, including research undertaken for the TLA (Truck Loggers Association), the campaign to elect Sam Sullivan and the Vancouver NPA,
Wonder if something like that actually concerns Mr. Fowlie and/or his editors?
And if not, why not?
Sheesh.
_____
And here's a litte more on the 'non-partisan' bonafides of another Innovative Research Group principal Mr. Greg Lyle.
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