| A poll conducted by McLaughlin and Associates for Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman attempts to give the perception that Hoffman is a viable third party candidate.
The results of the poll showed that Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava, the Republican nominee, leads with 26 percent. The Democratic candidate, Bill Owens, netted 17 percent while Hoffman came in at 16 percent. When "lean" votes are factored in, Scozzafava gets 30 percent, Owens 20 percent and Hoffman 19 percent.
The poll also has a large group of undecideds at 31 percent. It covered 300 likely general election voters and had a margin of error of 5.7 percent.
This poll makes for a good NY-23 post, but nothing more. Based on some other information in the poll, you can tell what the goal was: To portray Hoffman as the conservative option to the "liberals" Owens and Scozzafava.
Here is an example:
All things being equal, based on the following descriptions for whom are you more likely to vote for U.S. Congress? If you will decide your vote on other issues just say so. A Democratic candidate who is pro-abortion and is supported by Nancy Pelosi, who supports gay marriage. A liberal Republican who is pro abortion and pro gay marriage, OR, A Conservative Republican who is running on the Conservative Party line, who is pro-life and pro traditional marriage.
The results of that question had 48 percent saying they supported the "Conservative Republican" choice (which is Hoffman without the question saying as much).
The intent of this poll was to do what Hoffman has been trying to do since being given the opportunity to run on the Conservative Party line. He is running as the conservative alternative to Scozzafava (and Owens, if that's possible). He has labeled his two opponents as "liberals", which is an interesting approach. He labels Owens as a supporter of gay marriage even though he does not support gay marriage (he supports civil unions, but does not support full marriage equality due to religious reasons) and tries to separate himself from Scozzafava on the same social issues.
Obviously, this poll is nothing more than a way for Hoffman to get more support. It's not something I would take too seriously. |
