Voters Report Push-Polling in Iowa

[truthpusher]

Source: AP

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — In the final days of a close campaign, likely caucus-goers in Iowa report receiving phone calls providing unflattering information about all three major Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Some of the calls say Sen. Barack Obama's health plan leaves millions uninsured, while others say John Edwards' plans for a troop withdrawal from Iraq is dangerous or that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton cannot defeat Republicans in the fall, according to recipients.

In each case, the recipients say a caller pretending to conduct a poll of candidate preferences begins by asking who the caucus-goer intends to support.

"I responded Obama, and she went on to ask if I knew Obama's health care plan left 15 million uninsured," said Pam Jochum, an Iowa state representative from Dubuque.

Jochum said the caller "went into an attack on John Edwards, stating to me that military experts said Edwards' plan to withdraw troops within 10 months could destabilize" Iraq


Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jGo_ooAbCmOyu88UGjrY87Gv_RawD8TSLI2O0

[Captain Hilts]

1. These are advocacy calls, not 'push polls'. nt

[justgamma]

3. Who are they advocating for?

I've gotten that call and no matter who you support, they slam Obama and Edwards.

[McCamy Taylor]

6. These are Republican calls trying to depress Democratic turn out.

Negative campaigning in Iowa will anger Democratic voters and make them stay home. I would say that forces within the Republican Party that want to hijack the election by subverting the will of the Democratic electorate are afraid that a high turn out in Iowa may make the will of the people known and foil their efforts to manipulate the vote count in later states.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. Kerry and Geppy are back?

:cry:

[Debi]

4. Those calls were 'so' last week...

Now the candidates are just outright attacking each other! :crazy:

[havocmom]

5. If they call any DUers, keep 'em on the phone as long as possible

so they can call fewer people who don't understand the tactic. :evilgrin:

[humbled_opinion]

7. Republican dirty tricks

Pay them no mind... :tinfoilhat:

[kevsand]

8. If these were Republican calls...

...it would be reasonable to expect attacks on Clinton in addition to the ones on Obama and Edwards. The fact that the focus is solely on Obama and Edwards rather obviously suggests the involvement of Clinton operatives.