Oct 16th, 2004, 08:58 PM
Polls and Polling - My Personal Experience
Since the head gasket blew in my car, I've been working locally. A week or so I slipped a disk in my back on a demolition job, so I got something softer with Western Pacific Research; Political Consulting Firm. Mostly we accumulate poll data. It's the official name for the Republican Party's city platform for polling. (all part of the grand scheme which was meant to see me to Iowa, but sadly, never did). I think it is financed by 527 money, but I'm not entirely sure. Whatever it is, there is a decent amount of it.
How they can pay me twelve bucks an hour (plus time and half for overtime, and I work about 62 hours a week) plus twenty-three cents a mile to talk to people about their political opinions, and when conversation allows, sway them to match our own agenda, is beyond me. Hell, I'd do it for minimum wage. If I still lived with my parents, I'd do it for free.
It's both fun and fascinating -providing you get someone with a reality based opinion. I have found the more ignorant someone is in regards to Current Events, the more hostility they show when asked or challenged concerning their 'beliefs.' Beliefs being the operative word as some of the political stances I've found have been near-hysterical superstitions glued together by perceptions distinctly lacking in contextual framework.
If anyone out there gets the chance, I say try and get this job. The Jerry Mandering is a bitch. Districts, at least in California, are stupid. Hopefully, since the ten year mark is nearly here, they will fix this though I highly fucking doubt it.
In any case, the point of all this was to pass on a couple things I learned through the experience. One; Political affiliation doesn't strictly affect voting potentiality. Less people than I wouild have believed previously vote strictly along party lines, though Democrats (by my experience out there) tend to be more open to acting upon the issues than Republicans. To my shame, as I'm a registered Republican myself. Two; While polling will never predict the outcome of elections with one-hundred percent accuracy, it's not so far off as I thought. I'm covering California's 22nd and 30th Districts (along with 250 other individuals), and we literally hit every house. . .Or at least I do, going out for several days in order to ensure every household is represented accurately, if not every individuals (as I have had upwards to forty individuals attatched to a single address |By the way, the margin for error in our polls is based upon the amount of people whom we actually did not get to speak to {Did McDonald hamburgers shrink in size during recent years, this Quarter Pounder I was just handed appears anorexic}|). Three; Regardless of party loyalties, or voting prospects, I would guess to say that about two thirds of the people I've spoken with have little or no faith in the system and believe their representatives in the State and Federal systems are out of touch with the communities they are supposed to be supporting. Disconcerting, sad, and worse yet, I believe it is true.
Has the system well and truly broken down? I would hate to think so. I have always thought of myself as a Roman berift of Empire, but I always imagined the American spirit to have been lost, not the American system. . .
Anyways. . .I've only been with these guys for a few weeks, so I may not be completely on the ball with what I said above, but those were my impressions nonetheless. In any case, I leave Wednesday for Seatle. I finally got my approval for the Alaskan fishing thing with the MV Baranoff, and Thursday I'll once again be leaving the continental US. This is such a great fucking job I couldn't just leave without telling someone about it, so I made a post as noone I'm friends with could give a flying fuck about anything concerning politics.
Oh yeah. Vote no on Props 63, 66, 68,and 70. And 72.
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