When Push Polling Turns to Shove Polling

They called the wrong guy...

Pushed by poll, state Democrat pushes back

This month, Oregon-based Moore Information called hundreds of state residents to ask them questions about the presidential contest.

Little did the questioner know that one of the respondents was [Democratic activist and former lobbyist Tom] Krajewski, who immediately began taking notes. And when the survey veered toward becoming a push poll - encouraging answers with slanted questions, particularly about the current swift-boat controversy - Krajewski quickly called foul.

And when a political veteran such as Krajewski calls foul, he knows whom to call to make a little mischief.

"I wrote the affidavit so I would have an accurate representation, to the best of my recollection, of what happened," Krajewski said, sounding as innocent as an altar boy.

"I gave it to the Kerry people; I thought they should be aware of it."

Krajewski, a veteran spinmeister, said he was "terribly offended" by one question in particular.

The question, as Krajewski wrote in his affidavit: "Whose position do you think is closer to the truth - those 'veterans who served with John Kerry' and say that he does not deserve the medals that he received, or John Kerry who disagrees with the veterans that he served with and who appear in the ad?"

That is, to put it mildly, a nudge, if not an all-out shove.

Days after conducting the poll, the firm put out a news release nationally, saying it had found that President Bush was slightly ahead of his Democratic challenger in Wisconsin, though the lead was within the 4 percentage point margin of error.