Expect the DFL to do the endzone happy dance over this latest PiPress. showing each of the DFL candidates trouncing Tom Emmer, with crypto-liberal Tom Horner taking an absurd percentage of the vote.
Doing the happy dance even more was Horner who, 24 hours before the poll was released, tweeted
Luke Hellier at MDE notes…:
Bill Morris, the principal at the polling firm also has close ties to Horner himself.
Morris was seen staffing Horner at the Minnesota News Council Debate earlier this year.
In the article Morris is quoted:
Asked what the poll results mean, Decision Resources President Bill Morris said, “The bounce that Emmer enjoyed after the Republican convention is gone.”
The Pioneer Press has an obligation to disclose, unless they were unaware, the pollster’s relationship with Tom Horner.
The poll also sampled almost a fifth more Democrats than Republicans – 39-31%.
This reminds me of the Strib/“Minnesota” poll the week before the 2002 election that showed Roger Moe, Tim Pawlenty and Tim Penny tied around 30% each.
Hellier calls on the PiPress to disclose the relationships between Horner and Decision Resources.
He also says it’s a bogus poll. I think he’s being charitable.
Is having Horner close to 20% and Emmer at around 28% possible? Sure, in the sense that it fits the media’s narrative Emmer = Fringe Republican, Horner = Sensible Republican. But beyond the poll’s odd internals (who else has the DFL with an 8% ID advantage in MN right now?), there’s been little news on the gubernatorial race and thus little reason to see a polling bounce or dip for anyone.
The electorate isn’t engaged right now and only might be come August 10th as most of the state will still be up at the cabin when the DFL primary results are announced.
I sincerely doubt 20% of Minnesotans have even heard of Tom Horner, let alone support him.
November is months away. We will have sooooooo many more polls to dissect between now and then…all of which will change.
I agree with DG! Polls don’t count till the first Tuesday in November. Until then they are about as relevant as mood rings.
DG,
True. And I believe I’m fairly clearly implying that this poll has less to do with the actual state of the race…
…than an indication of how in the bag the media is for the Democrats (especially in terms of trying to build up Horner, a free-spending big-government consultant to a big chunk of MN’s political establishment, as a “moderate conservative” “anti-establishment” vote.
I sincerely doubt 20% of Minnesotans have even heard of Tom Horner, let alone support him.
I wonder how many people when asked a poll question over the phone might have mixed up Tom Horner and Tom Emmer. Sort of like when we had Tim Penny and Tim Pawlenty running in 2002. It’s a little easier to keep track when you see the names printed on the ballot next to their party affiliation.
Could someone please fix the italics tag in my last post?
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