How do they get those polls to say that?

Here is how they get a majority of people polled to say that HCR should be repealed and that cutting spending, cutting taxes, paying down the national debt, and improving the nation’s security should be the top priority in the new congressional session when most Americans believe otherwise:

First they put a negative-looking photo of President Obama on Facebook with the question “Should Congress Repeal Obama’s Health Plan?” This is a link, and most people who respond to it will either 1)be insensitive to the negativity of the “bad Obama” pictures or 2) recognize the picture and know that it is negative. If they feel negatively about President Obama, they are more likely to click on the negative photo, which is a link to the survey. If they feel positively about President Obama and recognize the “bad Obama” picture for what it is, they will not click on the link. So before anybody responds, the survey results are determined by setting up a survey population that will be more likely to agree with the writer of the poll. It will include a large majority of people with little political awareness, people who respond to negative pictures of President Obama, and people who want health care reform repealed.

When you do click on the link, you see another negative photo of President Obama, and you are asked “Should Congress Repeal Obama’s Health Care Plan and Other Policies?” The text will tell you the poll is urgent, and that the polling agency is reputable, and that they are going to give the results to media. The last of the three statements is true. Throughout the poll HCR will be referred to as “Obama’s Health Care Plan,” just to keep the self-selected anti-Obama folks aligned with the appropriate responses.

Then you get the questions, which are listed below. If you think there is one question that is not biased, leave your thoughts in the comments. I think that the last two are not biased questions, since they are actually just demographic. However, the responses will be skewed because the population has been selected to skew them. The kicker is the fourth question, which lists only the right-wing choices. So all of these will poll higher than creating jobs, funding and implementing HCR, Wall Street Reform, etc. When the poll is reported to media, there will not be a paragraph about how these options were not available, and the response could not be submitted unless you picked one of the available options.

That is one of the many ways they do it. You can use the link below to take the poll, but you can’t do it without giving them the answer they want on Question 4. And the responses can be separated into two groups based on the last two questions, people who voted for President Obama and people who did not. That gives the polling agency yet another option for reporting the data from the other questions in a skewed manner.

Here is the poll and here are the questions:

1. Do you support the full repeal of President Obama’s healthcare plan Congress passed in 2010? (Question calls it “Obama’s healthcare plan,” and offers one Yes option with a graded “No” response. The responses for the first option and the last option will be aggregated as “yes” responses in support of those legislators seeking repeal.
1. Yes, repeal it completely
2. No, don’t repeal it at all
3. No, repeal just parts of it
2. Should Congress restore $500 billion in Medicare benefits for seniors that the Obama plan cut? (Question says that money was cut, but responses say benefits. Actually benefits increased, and the money was cut by greater efficiency and tightening up to prevent fraud.)
1. Yes, restore the Medicare benefits
2. No, don’t restore the Medicare benefits
3. Do you support President Obama’s desire to give 12 million illegal aliens amnesty and a path to citizenship? (Question calls this “President Obama’s desire,” and the “Yes” response calls it a plan. It has been referred to in this item twice as “Obama’s,” so given the population, most responses will predictably be “No.”
1. Yes, I support Obama’s amnesty plan
2. No, I oppose it
4. What do you believe Congress’ top priority should be in 2011? (What happened to jobs, funding HCR, Wall Street reform, fixing Citizens United, getting working Americans back on their feet, doing something about education, etc.)
1. Cutting spending
2. Cutting taxes
3. Paying down the national debt
4. Improving the nation’s security
5. Do you plan on voting to re-elect President Obama in 2012?
1. Yes, re-elect
2. No, for another candidate
3. Not sure right now
6. Who did you vote for in 2008?
1. McCain – Palin
2. Obama – Biden
3. Other