Holy Shit! I just got polled by the Gallup organization!

Sonuvagun!

I was shocked! And best yet, it was ALL politics. Nice young man asking questions. He sounded somewhat amused at some of my answers (which I had to modify somewhat - for example, how do you rate george w. bush - I asked him if there was a category for "abysmal").

Wanted to know about voting, did I last time, do I usually, will I this time, will I on the date or ahead of time, have I been paying any attention to the race (no DUH!), did I watch the debate last night, what did I think, etc.

All the usual questions. Let's just say Kerry got a huge load of "outstanding's" to all the questions, and bush got all "f's." On everything from debate performance to national security, taxes, economy, and trustworthiness. Questions on Iraq. Questions on stem cell research. Questions on taxes. Questions on the US's role in the world. All of them - who do you think would handle it better. Betcha can't guess who I endorsed...

Fascinating. A couple of times I had to stop in the midst and tell this guy how utterly delighted I was that Gallup was actually calling me. He said it was surprising the reactions they got - one other person the other day said the same thing. He said a lot of people hang up on him.

I also told him it was VERY good that they called someone like me because it's harder to say they're skewed conservative if they talk to someone with my opinions. And I told him to please tell his bosses that there's a tremendous AND GROWING awareness out there that Gallup seems to favor conservatives. In fact, one recent Gallup poll, I reminded him, was actually described, openly, as polling more republi-CONS so the results were as you'd expect in this case.

VERY pleasant experience. And when he asked if, from time to time, the organization could call me again, I said SOITENLY!

Whee!!!!! Made my weekend!

Just wanted to share that with ya.

but I still don't trust their polls

respondent who actually did reflect my views.

So now when they start rounding up political opposition for the reeducation camps you will be at the top of the list!:)

Even though I'd never be able to stink as bad as georgie does. But then again, they won't be able to build enough Gitmos to hold us all.

You did a great job! You Soitenly did!

:thumbsup:

this story that one of the folks at the AP LA bureau was writing about the Three Stooges (I think they were getting their star on the Walk of Fame). And the lead line was "Coitenly"! Made me think of something x-rated. Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk.

Good on ya! How fortuitous that Gallop called you..I hope that stays in their polling.

I'm one of those who always grouses "they NEVER call ME!" I know other people on this board (and elsewhere, too, for that matter) complain about that, too. Don't know how I was chosen. The young man who called me said the chances are roughly 20,000 to one.

They called the previous holder of my phone number with a computer-voice generated poll. So...I did my civic duty. At the end they asked if I'd like to be called regularly, you betcha I do!

I've been called 4 times in the past 6 months, all automated and each time I push the buttons to be a 60ish male, with a substantial income who *is* somewhat worried about some garden-variety conservative issues but who has gotten increasingly *dismayed* over the war, the economy and, frankly, on call #3 I had to give the President* the lowest rating and now, unfortunately, he's getting the lowest rating in *everything*-----oh well, I do have to tell the truth don't I? :evilgrin:

(my husband finds this whole polling business highly entertaining)

well be one of those genuine Republicans who is indeed dismayed at what's happened to the GOP. It seems as though there are more and more of them week by week. We have some of them here among our own numbers at DU - people who've thrown up their hands in disgust and abandoned their party, or feel it's abandoned them. Considering that, you may well be reflecting true sentiments currently in existence (and not yet well-recognized) out there.

I got enough wrong numbers to what used to be the "children's phone" before they moved and changed their number. The guy is actually a hard-religious-right type. That is what makes it wonderful!!!!!

I should have mentioned that in the original. Still I'm sure there are disaffected people out there who are drifting away from the punch bowl full of koolaid

The thing is (and one of the reasons I'm glad I posted this): I was MOST intrigued by the guy telling me that people hung up on him a lot. If it's at all possible, never hang up on these people. Give them your input! How else can these polls really even begin to reflect what's out there, no less including views like OURS? We're not the ONLY ones who feel as we do, you know. Maybe only about 50 thousand members of DU, but many more people share the views expressed on this board. About time those were allowed to take their place at the table.

Reminds of the time Wal Mart called here. They wanted to build a store in the 'hood and were getting some resistance. A couple of times I had to tell him his questions presupposed a positive answer. They haven't built it.

cents. And you took it. And it wound up being worth a LOT more than that.

What the heck is going on? I've also been a member of the I Never Get Polled Club. So 3x's in less the 24 hours is really weird.

Anyway, the first one asked how I would rate how the words on his list that would describe George Bush. I told him, "I doubt if the words that I would use to describe George Bush are on your list."

I also told him I thought Cheney was Evil Incarnate.

When they send us off to the camps, maybe we could be roommates?

The guy told me he truly enjoyed talking to me. He laughed when I answered his "on a scale of 1 - 10, one being I'm not voting and 10 being I AM voting, which fits your situation and I said 14; and when he asked how I'd rate bush's performance last night, I said - can I say humiliating and appalling?

a pollster exactly what I thought of these criminals.

It felt almost as good as giving Dick Cheney the finger to his face the other day, when he came to Gainesville. I was within 5 feet of his ugly sneer. What a great week.

I WANT as many people out there in Perceptionland to know that folks who feel as we feel are present, and VERY MUCH accounted for - in droves and droves! Armies! Legions! They've turned up their noses at liberals because we haven't spoken up in a long time. We haven't MADE them recognize us - what we're about and how many of us there are. It's like when minorities suddenly realized they had numbers behind them, AND buying power because of those numbers. They started speaking with a larger, louder voice, and were taken a LOT more seriously as entities that should be recognized and catered to, because suddenly they got big and loud and demonstrated they had weight - and then threw that weight around. THAT'S what WE need to do, too.

Until now, nobody's heard much from us. The media, especially talk media, has it set up that way. All you hear, and hear from, all the time, are conservatives, neocons, fundies and assorted other knuckle-draggers. And if this is all you hear, it's thus implied that this is all there IS. So we've GOTTA start speaking up and grabbing the microphones and cameras and spotlights at EVERY possible opportunity. FORCE them to have to recognize and deal with us. If we're big and loud enough (or if it appears, or really proves out, that we are bigger and louder than they are), it forces them to deal with us ON OUR TERMS.

But they've gotta hear from us, first. When the Andrea Mitchells or Chris Matthewses of the world state things like "this president is REALLY loved," OBVIOUSLY they say that because the millions of us who do NOT love bush haven't made a big enough stink. We might as well be invisible, because we sure sound that way.

So we take command of the situation and seize the opportunities that present themselves whenever possible and CHANGE that.

thousands here on DU or anyone I've ever known (and certainly never me)! Who, I wondered? Now we know...it's YOU!

who want to know our views about various kinds of kids' clothes and fruit juice drinks and such. One of the moms at school is REALLY into that and sometimes they pay a little if you participate in some survey, so she asked if she could put our names in. Half my son's class does this all the time. I do not know if that's what led Gallup to me. Don't know HOW the heck they came up with me. I would think, if they REALLY tried deliberately to skew conservative, they wouldn't be that interested in what somebody who thinks as I/we do would say. Nor did they seem ready to disconnect when it became CLEAR how my answers were going to go.

But whenever one of these consumer testing people would call, I'd always think to myself - "Damn! Why can't it ever be something that's REALLY important, like politics, 'cause they NEED to hear from people who think as I/we do if they're really and truly after a representative sampling, and I NEED to make sure they hear opinions like mine/ours. OUR side NEEDS to be heard and acknowledged as the force it is. We have to be unavoidable.

After all, if they think we don't care, they won't, either!

I thought they called randomly. But if they asked to call you again, then they're keeping Dem & Repub lists. I suspect that's how they skew their results.

when I'd be called again because they got a complete survey's worth out of me. I guess they viewed me as someone who'd give them the time it'd take to go through the whole survey - often some of these disqualify whatever answers you gave if you can't go all the way through the survey with 'em. That's why they ask if you've got however many minutes to spare for all their questions. I said SURE!

Listen, the more liberals, moderate-to-liberals, greens, progressives, and independents these people get, the better for ALL OF US! Sure don't want their focus group filled with fundies!!!!

out of roughly 200 million people of voting age. You not only represented the entire 50,000 membership of DU, you would also cover free republic and a lot more. When Gallup releases their next poll showing Kerry ahead, DUers will know why: it was the Calimary Factor.

Every assessment of the debate OR of job performance OR any of that, pitting Kerry against bush, I gave Kerry the highest marks and bush the lowest. It was always Kerry excellent or yes, and bush poor or no. But dammit, that's how I genuinely feel!!!

PS - I'll take that over any o'reilly factor. Hee hee!