Iowa Push Polls: Interview with a vampire (also known as Republican pollster Adam Geller)...

[originalpckelly]

Um, yeah, so I sent Adam Geller of National Research, Inc. an e-mail about the "polls" in Iowa being conducted under the name "National Research"(as per the accounts of various DUers.)

He flat out denies that his polling firm is involved. He even went as far to say that National Research, Inc. is not even polling AT ALL in the state of Iowa.

That's a denial-denial in my opinion, and since there is little evidence actually connecting this firm with the polls in Iowa, as of right now it's not possible to say they're involved in the polls (whether they are real polls or push polls remains to be seen.)

He was quite helpful too (for a Republican suckface), and made a very good point about all of this: if you're conducting a push poll why give the real name of who you're working for?

Whoever might have done this, may have specifically used Republican firms for their cover, to throw anyone looking into this off their trail.

Here's what we do know, though, about these "pollsters"...

Who?
We know that two of the top three Democratic Presidential candidates, Senators Edwards and Clinton have been the target of these polls.

We know that out of the top three contenders for the presidency, only Senator Obama was missing from the polling.

We do not know who is conducting these polls, but we do know they have used the names of two Republican linked polling firms as their ID: Central Research and National Research. We can guess that they are either making names up or this was an intentionally misleading ID to throw people off the trail. It may have even been designed to make it look like Republicans were up to no good.

What?
These "polls" are extremely pointed and ask about Clinton and Edwards, with questions about whether or not John Edwards should be staying home with his sick wife.

They do not appear to be real polls because of that, but until we can prove more, it's probably not wise to jump to any conclusions.

When?
The past week at least, and more particularly the last few days.

Where?
So far, I have not seen any reports of this polling occurring in other states, just Iowa.

In addition, rurallib says he managed to get one of the pollsters to give up their location: Columbus, Ohio. But we do not know if this is actually true, as the pollster may have lied, on the other hand, why pick Columbus, Ohio as your location?

Why?
Unknown, though it does appear as if these questions are push polls, rather than normal polls, and since they give negative messages about Clinton and Edwards, it appears they are mean to target them.

Have you been contacted by one of these pollsters? You might give a short summary of your call in this thread, it will be much appreciated.

[hedgehog]

1. DU push thread.

Implying that Obama is behind this because he was not a named target.

I still nmaintain this push-poll is a Republican dirty trick - spread bad info on Clinton and Edwards and make it look like Obama did it.

[originalpckelly]

2. Actually, I'd say I support Obama or Edwards more than Clinton...

This is about another issue, not Senator Obama. I'm just reporting what happened: Obama was not targeted by all accounts. Maybe they, whoever they are, want us to think he's behind it? There are tons of possibilities.