I like to think that my threshold for these kinds of soft conspiracy claims is pretty high. Yes: for low-salience issues pollsters are basically making up public opinion. But do pollsters wake up in the morning looking to mislead voters about the state of the Presidential race? It’s just tough to imagine how that would play out on the ground. And yet:
I was having dinner a night ago with a friend of mine who is a statistician for a well-regarded private polling company… her companies [sic] conclusion is that the election will come down to Colorado, New Hampshire and the Republican leaning district in Maine, which in her opinion might very well decide the Presidency (apparently the district in Nebraska that Obama thought he might be able to get is now off the table). She said she has very little doubt that the public polling is part of a “concerted voter suppression effort” by the MSM.
And it’s definitely the case that Obama partisans think of polls as weapons in their unending battle against the monsters on the right:
After releasing this morning’s numbers showing McCain ahead in Ohio and Florida, the Strategic Vision polling company received several death threats through the contact e-mail on the company’s web site… The company has contacted the FBI and appropriate authorities, Johnson said. There was, thankfully, nothing in the messages that indicated that the sender had actually sought out the location of the company or its employees… Johnson said he’s not fearful, but taking appropriate measures. “It’s probably just a bunch of nut cases, but this is first time we’ve ever experienced something like this.” Johnson said. “It’s highly, highly unusual.”
Not that unusual, actually. The homes of Florida McCain supporters are being shot up. Fantasies of anti-conservative violence are so mainstream that reporters talk out loud about how they’d like to shoot GOP candidates. After the jump, a laundry list of some of the newer – and some of the more classic – intimidation tactics that Obama supporters have availed themselves of.
These are the people who are “disgusted” that conservatives are allowed to vote. If they can’t accomplish that, obviously the next best thing is to prevent anyone from recognizing their vote. It’s a movement that makes free use of legal coercion at the top and has been somewhat reticent in condemning physical intimidation from the bottom. In between repeated and widespread attacks on conservatives, Obama partisan are fantasizing about attacking and gangraping and shooting the GOP’s Vice Presidential candidate. We’re now in a situation where the Secret Service has to actively prevent interference on her motorcade.
And as of this morning they’re lynching her in effigy:
Tonight comes word that a mannequin has been outfitted to look like Palin – with glasses, a beehive wig and a red business suit – and is hanging from a noose outside a WeHo residence… Hanging an effigy should be seen as art, as long as the target is acceptable to the community, it seems… It’s just good, clean Halloween fun from our oh-so-tolerant friends in West Hollywood… You know who else sees a double standard? The artist: “I know if we had done it with Barack Obama, people would’ve probably thrown things through our windows,” Morrisette said.
So no, it’s not that unusual.
References:
* Former Gallup Poll Managing Editor: We Are Totally Making Shit Up [MR]
* Interesting tidbit on polls [Virginia Virtucon]
* Death Threats Sent to Pollster [Geraghty / NRO Campaign Spot]
* The Paranoid Style in The Left’s Anti-Palin Viciousness [MR]
* Classy Democrats Shoot Up McCain Supporter’s Home [Gateway Pundit]
* Newsweek Reporter Wanted to ‘Take Out’ Giuliani [Kevin D. Williamson / NRO Media Blog]
* ‘I Think Having a ‘Rush Limbaugh’ Vote is Disgusting’ [JWF]
* Obama Using Full Range Of Federal And State Power To Silence Dissent, Intimidate Voters [MR]
* Video: Obama Youth March In Lockstep, Chant About Inspirational Leader Who Will Guide Them Into Glorious Future [MR]
* Tolerance, Twin Cities style; Update: Crime wave? [Hot Air]
* Charming GOTV Videos: Commercial Icon Repeatedly Slams Palin Into The Ground (Plus: Severe PDS In San Fran Preventing Yuppies From Indulging In Effete Wine) [MR]
* Pro-Obama Comedian Jokes About Black Men Gang-Raping Palin, Liberal Outrage Fails To Ensue (Plus: Brief Review Of Other Conservatives Whom Progressives Would Like To See Get Raped) (UPDATE: Nuance Invoked, Video Added) [MR]
* Farrakhan: Obama Is “A Herald Of The Messiah… A Savior” (Plus: Obama’s Followers Attacking Conservatives, Fantasizing About Shooting Palin) [MR]
* Obamothugs Try to Block Palin’s Motorcade– Get Pummeled Instead (Video) …Update: Palin Breaks Record [Gateway Pundit]
* The tolerance of the Left [Hot Air]
Previously:
* Moronic Hollywood Nutjob: Palin Too Stupid To Understand The "Complicated Dialogue" In "W"
* The 5 Stages Of Liberal Mourning Over Palin
* New Palin Smear: She Supports Hamas (Plus: Obama’s Anti-Israel FP Sensibility, Support From Hamas)
