USAction Survey – Did you beat your wife yet?

So it’s that time of year again… political organizations begin taking advantage of the fact that they can slip under the “Do Not Call” list radar.  Most of them, I just answer and hang up.  Or if it’s a survey, I let them know my mind.

I get a call from a group calling themselves USAction who are doing a “survey” to get the pulse of “Americans”.  First off… I consider surveys only to be legit if they are from truly non-partisan groups such as Gallup or Nielsen.  Anyhow, I knew this one was a joke as soon as the “pollster” starts off with a statement along the lines of “Government continues to give tax breaks to big oil while the blah blah blah…” Then, after setting you up with a statement that demands you to be horrified and offended they ask the question something like, “Do you think we should send a message to Washington to stop this?”  The clincher, you must answer “Yes” or “No”.  Come on people… this is just like asking a husband “Did you beat your wife yet?” and only allowing a yes or no answer.  Do I think we need to fix things in Washington?  Sure.  Will stopping tax breaks fix it?  Probably not.  At the very least, don’t expect a “yes” or “no” answer to the question.  It takes a lot more defining than that.

What gave me a chuckle was when I gave the “wrong” answer to the pollster.  I answered in the negative, and did it very firmly.  He actually stopped his banter with an “uh, ok.” Then he got back on track with three or four other questions, all doing the same thing.  Bash the current administration, ask if you think it needs fixed.  And call it a “survey”.  I always thought surveys were supposedly unbiased.

Anyone who has the legal expertise and would like to help me, I’m planning on starting a “grassroots effort” to get PAC’s and any other political organization to have to adhere to the same rules that commercial organizations have to do when it comes to the “Do Not Call” list.  Last election season, I had some union organization calling me to vote for some candidate.  I called them back and asked to be removed from their list.  They kept calling back.  These political groups have no respect for people’s time and it frustrates me to no end.

September 21, 2008 | Filed Under Personal Ramblings | 2 Comments