Monday, November 19, 2007
MITT ROMNEY
The Latest Clues in the Push-Poll Controversy
Two items to add to Hemingway's chock-full-of-information piece on NRO today (Team Romney responds to it here). First, I understand TargetPoint will be issuing a statement in response to the article later today.
Second, Hemingway's article notes, "the only source that the company has spoken to about the matter is a blogger on mymanmitt.com." My e-mailbox has been full of conspiratorial thoughts, suggesting that if Western Wats is only talking to a pro-Mitt blogger, it's a sign this is a Romney-tied operation.
I just talked to Justin Hart of MyManMitt, who shed a bit more light on how he got his source within Western Wats to talk: He dialed up numbers in the company's automated voice system until he found somebody within the company willing to talk to him.
"I must have spent an hour just dialing numbers," Hart told me this morning. "I kept getting guys who were referring me to the client representative, until I came across a guy who said, 'I've read your blog, I know you're pro-Mitt guy.' This guy was nervous, and I told him, 'I know where' you're coming from, I used to run phone banks in Congressional races. I know the difference between a push poll and message testing.' He said, 'oh, well, you've got to get that distinction out there.' I said I would try, but that I thought that distinction would be lost on the public.'"
Hart also emphasized that while he (Hart) doesn't know the person behind the calls, his source said that he would be very surprised if it were connected to Romney & Co. Then he said: "our client is not political. At best we're a third party vendor in this."
As Hart notes, TargetPoint would fit the definition of being a third party, but despite their corporate and consumer research work, I have a hard time believing anyone would contend that they're "not political."
If Hart's source is accurate, what "not political" client would want the information collected on Romney and the Mormon issue?
11/19 10:15 AM
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