I just got polled in the NCCo. Executive Race.

Filed in Delaware by on May 23, 2012

For real this time. And by that I mean, it was a real poll, not a push poll from a union on behalf of Tom Gordon. The pollster asked my opinion on a host of issues facing New Castle County, and also asked me what I thought was the most important issue facing the county. I answered “development.” I was asked my opinion of Tom Gordon. I answered unfavorable because I consider him a criminal. Then I was asked my opinion of Paul Clark, and I said I wanted to answer undecided, but was told my only two options now were favorable or unfavorable. So I said unfavorable due to my concerns over his ethics.

I was then asked if the election were held today, who would be getting my vote, and the choices were Clark, Gordon, Shahan or undecided. I answered Shahan.

The pollster then said we are entering the Positive part of the survey, and read me positive bios of both Clark and Gordon and asked me if that information changed my vote in any way, and I said it made no difference. I was asked again about who I was voting for, and I said Shahan. Then we entered the negative part of the survey (literally the words she used), and read me some negative information about Clark and Gordon (information of which we are all aware), and asked if it made me more likely to vote for them, less likely, or it made no difference. To both, I said “less likely.” Then I was asked a third time about who I was voting for, and again I said Shahan.

I was asked about my awareness of certain New Castle County and state officials, like Kevin Kelly, Denise Williams, Bob Marshall, and Jack Markell. But she did not ask me about my opinion on them.

Interestingly, no information, negative or positive, was given about Shahan.

I did not catch the organization conducting the call, but it was given at the top of the call, and I couldn’t make it out.

I can’t wait to see the results.

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Comments (9)

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  1. Idealist says:

    “I can’t wait to see the results.”

    I doubt these results will be made public.

  2. Delaware Dem says:

    If the poll was done on behalf of one of the campaigns, and they like the results, then it will be released. If it was done for a news organization, which was my impression from listening to the survey, then it will be released. I say that based on experience of taking many campaign polls, push polls, and real journalistic polls. You can tell by the wording and the questions. I think this was a poll for a news organization.

  3. SussexWatcher says:

    Were you asked if you were a registered Democrat? Otherwise it has no significance.

    It wasn’t done by a news org. TNJ is far too cheap, and WDEL also.

  4. Delaware Dem says:

    Yes, and then I was asked if I was a strong or just leaning Democrat.

  5. mediawatch says:

    Don’t bet against the NJ on this one. Take the absence of Shahan questions — which parallels the absence of any Shahan comments in today’s story on Clark’s budget (even though I’m told Shahan talked twice to the reporter before the story was completed). While Shahan may have some support among bloggers, and among county workers, the NJ won’t consider him a credible candidate until contributions start pouring in.
    Could also be a UD poll, or one conducted by/for unions to gauge where they should put their support.

  6. SussexWatcher says:

    TNJ has maybe paid for one poll in five years. No way they commissioned a poll just about this race that didn’t also ask about Markell, Carper and Obama. They need to get multiple stories out of it to justify to the bean counter publisher.

  7. Idealist says:

    If I had to guess its Clark doing a poll in response to Gordon doing a poll. I’d be surprised if they release results.

    Then again, that’s just a guess.

  8. kavips says:

    And you are not wondering how someone with the name “Deldem” was randomly picked of a “political” poll?

    I understand your excitement… and I wish I could believe this was a lucky, random occurrence… but with polls today completely in non-alignment with the American people…

    Unh, unh… sorry, I can’t…

    Yeah, random?… right….

  9. Very interesting!

    At least they gave you Shahan as a choice.