Poll Tricks
This weekend we received a pollster call about California’s Proposition 8, and it would have been an uninteresting conversation were it not for the last line. Here’s how it went down:
Pollster: Hello, may I speak with Laila?
Me: Speaking.
Pollster: Could I ask you a few questions of the upcoming election?
Me: Sure.
Pollster: Do you know about Prop 8?
Me: Prop 8?
Pollster: This is the proposition that would define marriage in the California state constitution as the union of one man and one woman.
Me: Oh, right.
Pollster: In 2000, California overwhelmingly passed a proposition that amended the family code in this way, but it was over-ruled by the California courts.
Me: (silence).
Pollster: If the election were held today, how would you vote on Prop 8? Yes or no?
Me: No.
Pollster: oh, ok. Is that a ‘probably no’ or a ‘definitely no’?
No: Definitely no.
Pollster: Oh, OK. That’s all the questions I have. Well, remember to vote on November 8. [click]
I couldn’t believe it. Here’s a list of all the props on the November 4 ballot.