Remember this one, from Sarah Palin? “Polls? Nah… They’re for strippers and cross country skiers.”
But for more serious politicians polls can be a very effective tool in winning campaigns. It seems, however, there is a major discrepancy in recent polls measuring the candidates in the 17th Congressional District race.
Incumbent Mike Honda finished the primary election in June some 20 points ahead of his Republican-backed challenger Ro Khanna. And after four months of campaigning, with Khanna’s share of positive and negative publicity, and big money from those republican backers, one poll shows he’s still lagging far behind the more experienced leadership of Honda.
Honda’s poll shows he’s still ahead by a significant margin, 42%-27%. David Mermin of Lake Research Partners, which conducted the poll, said, “Even after millions of dollars spent on Khanna’s behalf, voters in the 17th Congressional District continue to stand behind Mike Honda’s record of effective service, while Khanna struggles to connect with voters.”
But Khanna’s campaign announced he’s made up that 20-point gap and all of a sudden he’s running neck and neck with Honda, according to a poll conducted by David Binder Research of San Francisco. How can that be? Yes, he’s got money. Yes, he’s got San Jose’s only newspaper on his side with glowing publicity at every turn. But a legitimate political poll showing he made up that kind of ground? Hmmm, seems odd.
A speechwriter for President Gerald Ford once said: “Do you ever get the feeling that the only reason we have elections is to find out if the polls were right?” We’ll find out in just three more weeks. And when we do, one pollster is going to have egg on his face. The smart money says it’s going to be Binder.”
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