A person identifying himself as an employee of PPO Research (Political Public Opinion) called me on Thursday 2/12 6:39 pm to get my opinion about the upcoming mayoral race in New York City.
The survey asked about my support for Bloomberg, and my support for him versus Anthony Weiner and versus Bill Thompson. Given that the poll did NOT ask about term limits and failed to mention Tony Avella, it’s a fair guess to say that the poll was conducted by the Bloomberg campaign.
The poll included several questions that you might expect. I didn’t record the conversation, so I’m not sure of the exact phrasing, but the questions did include things like
“Do you consider yourself very liberal, liberal, conservative or very conservative?”
“What is your religion”
“How often do you attend religious services?”
“When choosing a candidate, do you consider party affiliation or independent judgment?”
“Should government support go to fighting terrorism or fighting economic uncertainty?”
There were also some non-political questions, such as
“When you are at a party, do you like to talk to people you know or do you talk to new people?”
“What worries you more, violent or white collar crime?”
My favorite question, and the only one I made sure to get exactly, was
“For statistical purposes, how would you describe your sexual orientation?”
One pair open-ended questions went
“What is your top priority in the upcoming election? What is your next priority?”
After asking several questions, the pollster asked a second time about my opinions of the current mayor. I asked the pollster who was paying for the survey, and he said he was not given that information because it might skew the results. I asked him if he was based in New York, and he said no. I also asked what the breakdown of support for Bloomberg had been in his experience, and he said 50-50.
After a quick web search, I have not been able to find PPO Research. My phone’s caller ID appeared as “Unknown Name 000-000-0000.”
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