Sounds fishy: Independent Women in CO Focus Group Prefer Palin to Biden (conducted by WVWV)

[mod mom]

Independent Women In Colorado Focus Groups Prefer Palin To Biden

In two different Colorado focus groups of married and unmarried women conducted directly after Thursday's vice presidential debate, respondents broadly agreed that Sarah Palin came off better than Joe Biden.

The married and unmarried focus groups of 10 women each were organized by the Womens Voices, Women Vote organization, and conducted by the firm of Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research.

-snip

"Palin was more genuine. She's a mom," one said. "She's more herself, just the way she talks -- it's down to earth," said another. Most of the women also said her "say it ain't so Joe" line was "hysterical," and that the "extra credit" line about her brother's class was endearing as well.

-snip
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/03/independent-women-in-colo_n_131479.html

I READ THIS OVER AT HUFFPO AND THOUGHT WTF ? ""Palin was more genuine. She's a mom," one said. "She's more herself, just the way she talks -- it's down to earth,"

THEN I NOTICED THIS WAS CONDUCTED BY WVWV. THIS WAS A GROUP I FOLLOWED IN THE PRIMARY FOR USING MISLEADING ROBOCALLS TO AF AM. HERE IS SOME BACKGROUND:


Will the Real Lamont Williams Please Stand Up? -- Update
By Sarah Lai Stirland May 03, 2008 | 8:05:00 PMCategories: Election '08

-snip
The anonymous calls using the unknown male persona look especially strange since the voter-registration group has, in the past, used high-profile celebrities to advance their cause. And everything the group has said about its mission before this week has indicated that it exclusively targets unmarried women.

Consider this price list (.pdf), found on the group's website, in which WVWV offers to sell its database. "WVWV targets only unmarried women, including divorced or widowed women," the document reads. "WVWV has used state-of-the-art technology and data-mining and analysis techniques in order to accurately identify these women and encourage them to register and turn out to vote."

There's nothing in there, or anywhere else on its website, about the group expanding to target African-American men.

The group said Thursday that Lamont Williams is the real name of the voice performer they hired for the 20-second recording. Threat Level searched the top voice talent agencies with online databases, and didn't find Mr. Williams.
-snip
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/05/calling-on-lamo.html


BACKGROUND FROM WIRED:
Washington, D.C., Group Accused of High-Tech Dirty Tricks to Suppress Black Vote

By Sarah Lai Stirland April 30, 2008 | 5:41:18 PMCategories: Election '08

A D.C. advocacy group called Women's Voices, Women Vote is being accused of waging a high-tech voter suppression campaign, after voters in predominantly black districts in North Carolina began receiving automated phone calls implying that they hadn't properly registered to vote in the upcoming Democratic primary.

Page Gardner, Women's Voices, Women Vote's president has apologized for any "confusion" caused by her group's anonymous robocalls to North Carolina voters.

The controversy underscores the mounting tension in the Democratic primary race. Polling in North Carolina currently favors Barack Obama over rival Hillary Clinton for the May 6 Democratic presidential primary there. Blacks, who overwhelmingly favored Obama in primaries in Virginia and Maryland, make up about 22 percent of the population in North Carolina, according to the U.S. Census.
Voters began complaining to The Raleigh News & Observer last week that they were receiving the automated calls, which the paper reported were primarily going to black households. The calls play a 20-second message voiced by a man who calls himself "Lamont Williams."

"In the next few days, you will receive a voter-registration packet in the mail," the Williams recording said. "All you need to do is sign it, date it and return your application. Then you will be able to vote and make your voice heard. Please return the voter-registration form when it arrives. Thank you."
-snip
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/04/north-carolin-1.html#previouspost

Group Behind Misleading Robo-Calls to Voters Answers Some Questions, Ducks Others

By Sarah Lai Stirland May 01, 2008 | 5:23:58 PMCategories: Election '08

-Snip
In a statement issued Thursday to DailyKos blogger Adam Bonin, WVWV spokeswoman Sarah Johnson explains that the omission of the group's name was "a mistake."
"We regret the error and will ensure it does not happen again," Johnson wrote.

It's unclear whether Johnson means the organization forgot to identify itself when it wrote the 20-second script for the call, or whether it made the decision to stay anonymous, and now that it's been unmasked, regards that decision as a mistake.

Either way, there's a problem with this explanation, as the Institute for Southern Studies' Chris Krommer notes: Women's Voices, Women Vote generated a similar controversy in Virgina in February. Virginia police and the state's board of elections received calls from more than a dozen Virginia residents about anonymous, unsolicited phone calls urging them to register to vote.

After the calls were traced to Women's Voices, Women Vote, the very same Sarah Johnson offered the identical "Oops!" excuse, and promised that Women's Voices, Women Vote would begin to identify itself in the calls.
Complaints about the group's voter-registration campaign have also surfaced in states all over the country earlier this year. Those states include Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

-snip
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/05/details-of-nort.html#previouspost

They were warned in early Feb (VA), but this is what WVWV's Page Gardner is saying now:

-snip

The group's president Page Gardner, said that to clear up any further confusion, the group "went to Herculean efforts" to stop the mailings in states that still have upcoming primaries.

The states are:

Kentucky – Primary Day: May 20, 2008.
Montana – Republican Presidential Preference Caucus: February 5, Democratic Primary: June 3, 2008
North Carolina—Primary Day: May 5, 2008
Oregon – Primary Day: May 20, 2008
South Dakota – Primary Day: June 3, 2008
West Virginia – Republican Caucus: February 5, 2008, Democratic Primary: May 13, 2008.

"When the issue arose in North Carolina, we worked with the folks in that state, and we were able to pull the majority of our mail pieces," Gardner said in an interview. "We stopped the majority of the mail, and in the other states we asked our mail vendor to do the same."

Asked why the phone calls didn't include an identifying organization behind the calls, Gardner says: " Our transparency came through our piece in the mail."

-snip

http://www.wvwv.org/2008/5/6/women-s-voter-registration-group-responds-to-critics

Update: Group Promised to Change Calls in February
By Paul Kiel - May 1, 2008, 4:10PM
Since we last posted this morning, there are number of other things to update you on those calls by Women's Voices Women Vote.

First off, North Carolina officials were not the first to specifically object to the group's failure to identify themselves and instead use "Lamont Williams" on the calls. As Facing South points out, back in February, after Virginia police investigated the calls and mailings as a possible identity theft scam, the group's spokeswoman told The Virginian-Pilot that "not including information about the source of the voter registration effort was 'absolutely an accidental omission.'" She also said that the group would be changing the calls so that the group was identified as the source.

Obviously, that didn't happen. When I asked the group about that, a spokesperson told me that the failure to change the script was a "mistake" and added "we're doing our best to figure out how the old script got used."

-snip

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/05/update_womens_voices_calls.php

Virginia voter registration effort proves legit after fears of scam
By Steve Stone
The Virginian-Pilot
© February 9, 2008

-snip


Sarah Johnson, communications director for the organization, said Friday that not including information about the source of the voter registration effort was "absolutely an accidental omission."

She said the group was changing its nationwide phone alerts to make clear who is coordinating the effort.

Johnson said that of all the states where the effort is under way, Virginia was the only one where there had been reports of problems.

-snip

http://hamptonroads.com/node/453328

On May 8, 2008, at 1:30 AM, Joyce McCloy wrote:

Its odd that Women's Voices, Women Vote - is doing their robo calls and sending their voter registration forms to voters, many who are registered, AFTER the deadline to register to vote and just before such an important primary. Pattern, anyone? (see Facing South for investigation)

Grayson Issues Warning About Voter Registration

Last Update: 5/06 3:10 pm
Web produced by: Jessica Noll


Secretary of State Trey Grayson issued a warning to Kentucky citizens that his office has learned that a voting group has sent thousands of potentially confusing mailings to women across Kentucky asking them to register to vote.

These mailings could cause confusion for Kentuckians because the deadline to register to vote in the upcoming May primary has already passed.

According to the group, "Women's Voices. Women Vote." (WVWV), the voter registration mailings were part of a larger nationwide mailing.

Grayson encouraged voters to still consider registering to vote so that they will be eligible for the fall general election, but wanted to make sure that citizens understood that any new registrants registering after the April 21 deadline will not be able to vote in the May primary.

"I appreciate Women's Voices Women Vote letting us know about this possibly confusing situation for Kentucky voters," stated Secretary Grayson. "It is important to stress that citizens can still register to vote for the November general election, but they will not be eligible to vote and in the upcoming primary."

Page Gardner, President of WVWV, stated in her letter that:

"…Kentucky residents will receive this mail after the deadline for registering to vote to participate in the upcoming primary election. Please be aware that the mailing is not intended to encourage registration specifically for the primary, but simply to encourage voter registration in general. The mailing clearly indicates that the deadline to register to vote by mail for a particular election in Kentucky is 29 days before the election … We hope that this unfortunate coincidence in timing does not lead to any confusion or aggravation for either your state's voters or registrars."

Grayson had previously noted at a March press conference that many third-party registration groups are in Kentucky now and are trying to register voters. He stated that there have been some complaints to the State Board of Elections about some of these voter registration efforts. While most voter registration efforts are very helpful, they sometimes can confuse voters.

At the time, Grayson stated that WVWV had been sending voter registration cards and letters to citizens stating that they are not registered to vote, when in fact, many of those citizens are registered. To reduce confusion, voters can take the time to check their voter registration at the Voter Information Center.

Gardner noted in her letter that they use "the best available data … from a large commercial data company" and that "… attempts to identify only unregistered women will not be perfect."

The State Board of Elections has also heard from voters and from county clerks that WVWV have been sending automated calls encouraging people to register to vote which does not explicitly state that the voter registration deadline has passed for the May primary election.

"By all accounts, these voter registration efforts have the best of intentions, but sometimes the execution is not as accurate as we would prefer. If citizens have any questions, I encourage them visit our website or to call the State Board of Elections or their local county clerk," said Grayson.


Kentucky Post

http://www.kypost.com/content/news/commonwealth/story.aspx?content_id=4ed660a8-1927-41e6-8330-6387bcd9809a



SO IS THIS A GROUP OF PUMAS OUT TO HURT OBAMA/BIDEN? WHAT DO YOU THINK?

[Bill McBlueState]

1. Focus groups are pretty unscientific

A sample size of 10 has a margin of error of 30%, and that's assuming it's an unbiased sample.

I'd probably ignore this result.

[smoochpooch]

2. Anynoe who sends those bogus voter registration materials should be thrown in jail.

Sounds like they have a history of cherry picking who gets to have their vote and their voice heard.

[mod mom]

3. This group had many ties to the Clintons. I hope they are not angry PUMAs trying to undermine Obam

[InNeedOfUserName]

5. and not a repub group...

Her is her campaign contributions:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=+site:www.city-data.com+%22Page+S.+Gardner%22

[elkston]

4. WTF - These people are the same cretins who tried to trick black NC voters in the primary

...with that pathetic and misleading "Lamont Williams" call. This is a PUMA-like advocacy group whose goal is simply to sting Obama.

[mod mom]

6. exactly! Someone needs to call these folks out!