Push Polls and A Bridge to Nowhere
When one is in the midst of the travel day from hell, one spends much of one’s time in airports cooling one’s heels. Which leaves plenty of time to stay current - even from 8,000 miles away - on Knik Arm Crossing (one of the bridges to nowhere) late breaking news. Yesterday, poll results were released that on the surface indicated broad public support for the bridge. Well, this poll was a push poll and the questions were asked in a manner that almost guaranteed broad support. Heck, the way the questions were asked, the bridge would be right up there with Motherhood and Apple Pie.
I hate push polls - it goes against the rational, facts based grain of all of my natural science training. And this poll was quite manipulative - but in a more subtle way than usual. Two of my favorite questions were:
Q.10 The Knik Arm crossing will take money away from more important transportation needs.
Q.11 A Knik Arm crossing will be a shorter commute and save fuel and time between much of the Mat-Su Valley and Anchorage.
Those questions are specious. They’re sort of wish fulfillment questions with no basis in facts. Now, if the poll’s goal was to measure what folks truly think, then those questions are valid. But that’s not what the poll was after. Instead, it wants to create sort of mass illusion. Here’s how the questions really should have been asked:
Q.10 If the Knik Arm Crossing were to take away money from other transportation projects, how would you rank your support for the Knik Arm Crossing?
Q.11 —
Actually there is no way to re-word question 11 - KABATA’s own figures show that the Knik Arm Crossing will not shorten commute time between the vast majority of the Valley’s population base and Anchorage. This question is almost takes the form of a lie. It’s definitely borderline.
Here’s what I said in this morning’s Daily News article on the poll:
“It was structured and formed to elicit a very specific type of response,” said Stephanie Kesler, co-chair of a Government Hill Community Council committee addressing the bridge issue. The bridge authority is proposing cutting a subsurface road through Government Hill to reach the bridge.
Kesler said she thought the poll questions were too vague and didn’t address specifics of the project, particularly its potential to draw money away from other transportation needs.
What a process this all has been….
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