Republican "Census" Guilty of Push Polling

Well, the Republican Party still hasn't got the word of my official party switch (years after my ideological one), because I'm still on their mailing list. I received in the mail today, their latest appeal for donations in the form of a "Republican Party Census Document."

The mailer purports to be a survey of Republican attitudes to a series of categories, such as "Homeland Security Issues," "Economic Issues," "Domestic Issues," and so on. But this is far from an honest survey. Nearly every question is extremely leading, and fits the very definition of "push polling."

Here are just a few of the questions:

"If Democrats try to gut the USA Patriot Act and other important laws that promote the safety and security of all Americans, should Republicans fight back?"

"Should we fight Democrat efforts to impose Clinton-era cuts in the Pentagon's budget?"

"Should we stop the Democrats from cutting funding for our intelligence agencies or bringing back Clinton-era restrictions on inter-agency communications?"

"Should we make sure President Bush's judicial nominees receive fair hearings and up or down votes in the Senate even when Democrats threaten a filibuster?"

That is just a sample. Set up a straw man, knock it down, and then pretend it is a straightforward poll question. I particularly like the Clinton bashing. One question even contains the Frank Luntz focus-group tested "death tax" phrase.

A while back, I commented on the right-wing punditry's disregard for the intelligence of their listeners and viewers. Clearly, the party itself has the same problem.