Isn’t it so much fun when you get deep into campaign season and the mud is flying everywhere. Usually, the closer you get to election day, the muddier it gets. It seems we’re seeing all the usual stuff flying around.

Now we’re hearing about a poll where David Cicilline has magically made a 26 point gain since WPRI ran their poll earlier in the year.

Unfortunately, at the same time, we get reports of someone doing a push poll for David Cicilline. In case you’re not familiar with a push poll (and don’t want to click on the link) it is when a pollster asks questions that would seem to be a poll, but are instead intended to mislead a voter on a candidate. For example, I wonder what would be the results of a poll if someone were to ask voters:

• Would you vote for David Cicilline for Congress if his brother went to prison for theft?
• Would you vote for David Cicilline for Congress if he previously worked as a criminal defense attorney defending child abusers and drug dealers?
• Would you vote for David Cicilline if you found out that he hated puppies?
• Who will you be supporting in the upcoming Congressional election, Brendan Doherty or David Cicilline?

Now I didn’t say any of those things above are true, I simply asked “if”. And then, just as the voter is frothing with anger, you ask the question you want to get the result on. Who will you vote for in the upcoming Congressional election? And voila! A 26 point turnaround!
Push polling isn’t the most ethical or honest campaign tactic, but based on what we’ve seen from David Cicilline over the last ten years, honesty isn’t something that we should come to expect.