It’s a lovely Sunday and for those who are interested, a Horse is going to spell out what a push poll is and how it works courtesy of Wikipedia.

Talking Ed Note: Push polling is not a crime. It is sleight of hand deployed to alter voter perceptions, re: in this instance how the hospital board, Mayor Zimmer and a group of people on the City Council: Peter Cunningham, Carol Marsh, Dave Mello, Ravi Bhalla and Jen Giattino all played important roles in seeing the hospital saved but are not credited. (Certainly not even paltry “equal credit.”)


In this push poll question, the objective is to see Councilman Ravi Bhalla elevated for “saving the city hospital” which of course is inaccurate among many people who worked tirelessly for hundreds if not thousands of hours without pay to do the impossible. Think the Hoboken hospital board members, especially, Toni Tomarazzo and the late Steve Rofsky who were central to this victory. 


In a push poll, highlighting that one council member on a body of nine credited he “saved the city’s hospital” is an example of how such tactics may be used. Push polling is generally acknowledged as a form of negative campaigning. 


Campaigns can do polling and insert push polling questions to achieve a desired result; namely, the altering of voter perceptions favorable to a campaign.

Related: MSV urges everyone to read the tribute to Steve Rofsky who was never properly credited by local media for his instrumental role in delivering the plan to save the hospital and with it Hoboken.

Sunday Midday Update: MSV is pleased to present questions of the second Hoboken telephone poll, (not the Bhalla campaign’s) courtesy of its readers. So without further adieu, details from the second telephone poll.