(IN-08) Hostettler campaign dismisses ISU poll (shows him down by 15)

[Newsjock]

http://www.tribstar.com/local/local_story_269230415.html

A member of U.S. Rep. John Hostettler’s re-election campaign dismissed a poll conducted by Indiana State University that showed the Republican incumbent trailing his Democratic challenger by more than 15 points.

The poll, commissioned by the Evansville Courier & Press newspaper, indicated that more than 47 percent of 602 registered voters polled within the 8th District preferred Democrat Brad Ellsworth, compared with a reported 31.8 percent for Hostettler.

Stan Barringer, the Hostettler campaign’s research director, noted that the Courier & Press refused to release the questions asked to respondents when the poll was conducted between Sept. 6-21. He added that Hostettler’s campaign office has received calls from poll respondents concerned with the questions.

“Well, it makes a big difference because the Courier is claiming this is not a ‘push’ poll, which is a method of polling that forceful, opinionated questions,” Barringer said, “but stories we’ve heard by people who were polled by Indiana State were that some of the questions were forceful.”

[rpannier]

1. He does that at his own peril

I used to live in Indiana, albeit a long time ago, and that poll is usually dead on.

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. Funny thing about polls, apparently they are right 50% of the time

depending on which of the two guys you talk to.

[LostInAnomie]

3. Hostettler has a lot of room to talk about push polls.

I was push polled by one of that mother fucker's groups a few of weeks ago. When I called them on being a push poll they said "Well, these are issues that are going to come up in the campaign that Ellsworth is going to have to answer for!"

It's good news that Ellsworth is up in the polls, but I would be a little suspicious about 15%. That's a pretty damn huge lead for a district as red as the 8th.

[LiberalFighter]

4. Unless the new guy has different standards... IU does not

do push polls!

[LiberalFighter]

5. Some questions might be considered "forceful"...

because it disturbs their mindset. And their mindset probably has a lot to be desired.