DENNIS OLIVER WOODS, M.ED., B.S. Journalism, Bible & Theology

"I spent 25 years as a political pollster and activist helping maintain a Republican majority in the Oregon legislature. As time passed, it became painfully obvious that our Christian legislators -- with a few notable exceptions -- had a very weak biblical world view. I founded ClassicalFree Virtual Academy to help remedy this situation."

... Dennis Oliver Woods makes his home in Clackamas, Oregon with his wife and three home schooled children. He is the headmaster of ClassicalFree Virtual Academy and president of Target Market Strategies, a telemarket/market research company. He has served as Director of Telemarketing for the Oregon Christian Coalition, an officer of Artillery in the United States Army and was formerly a construction contractor.

Educational attainments include a Masters Degree in Education, a Bachelors in Journalism and completion of the Graduate Program in Bible & Theology at Multnomah Bible College, Portland, Oregon.

Active in Oregon Politics since 1976, Mr. Woods has participated in over 300 political surveys, with primary focus on Oregon legislative campaigns. His most satisfying political accomplishment came in 1990 when he co-managed a 40-line voter identification phone bank supporting 17 key Republican House Races in Oregon. About 65% won, contributing to Republican control of the Oregon House for the first time in 20 years. This was the only legislative chamber in the nation to switch from Democrat to Republican that year.

Woods has a 20-year background in market research and telemarketing, including employment with Portland research firms such as Bardsley & Haslacher (now Bardsley & Neidhart) and Columbia Information Systems (now Market Strategies, Inc.) Over the years he has participated in nearly 400 research projects at the analysis or management level. He has written five books on theory and practice in political science and history.

At Columbia he was a marketing specialist responsible for report preparation and marketing recommendations in a variety of private and public sector fields. He developed written market analysis and recommendations for firms as diverse as AT&T, du Pont, Hallmark, Montgomery Ward and Nike. Here he gained extensive experience in political survey management and electronic testing of television and print advertising.

Prior to his stint at Columbia, Woods served a 4-year apprenticeship under well-known political pollster and columnist, J. Roy Bardsley. ... Mr. Woods is also founder of The Hoffman Research Group, a public interest and commercial research organization headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1984, the Hoffman Group has a long tradition of providing quality research to businesses and political campaigns. Principles of the Group offer clients a combined total of nearly 40 years experience in marketing, campaign management and survey research.

The Hoffman Group is a subsidiary of Gateway Communications, a Portland based communications and telemarketing firm. Its proven expertise in fund raising, voter identification, lobbying, and survey research have made Gateway a major player in recent political changes in the state of Oregon. Via the Hoffman Group and its other divisions, Gateway Communications serves a broad range of clientele.

This exact mailer has gone out in House District 10.

Here's what I've learned (I've only had one cup of coffee, though): Hoffman Research is a subsidiary of Gateway Communications. Alan Brown's C&E reports show many thousands of dollars in expenditures to these folks, and I bet Sumner's do as well.

It all has something to do with this guy: http://www.zoominfo.com/people/woods_dennis_5709127.aspx

Dennis Oliver Woods is a longtime Republican operative and partisan of the religious right. I would appreciate learning more if anyone else has any details.

According to the above bio that I posted, Hoffman Communications is a division of Gateway Communications. Here's some info about them:

http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/Content?oid=32204&category=22101

Sal beat me to it.

Interesting strategy. It's certainly not a poll, but it's basically a list-building approach. Strange way to spend money.

It is definitely not a real poll, and it is misleading in that respect. My guess is that it's a way to ID voters while making the Republicans' customary tithing to Tim Nashif and his ilk.

LT--House or Senate 19? Both are Democratic held, if I recall right, in which case the incumbent likely didn't send it out.

whoops, my bad. Kevin Cameron's in HD19. Shouldn't try to "recall" without a quick google.

uh, I just checked Cameron's C&Es. Right there, bold as love, 7/31/06: $1750, Gateway Communications, Surveys and Polling. And 9/21/06, again: $3,000, Gateway Communications, Surveys and Polling.

Podcast available of that City Club meeting, LT?

It's an interesting way to generate issue IDs. No doubt the R candidate follows up with tailored messages on the issues of most concern to people.

Group spend a lot of $ doing IDs at the door and on the phone. Going after those without phone #s in the voter file by direct mail might actually pay-off. It would be interesting to do an experiment and see what type of return you get, $ per ID, and then do some mechanism to test the accuracy of them.

Hey Jonathan,

I think you should test the strategy in HD24 this cycle. :^)

• Sal

P.S. I don't want to hear one word about not being out canvassing. I did 4 hours this morning and am heading out again after lunch.

I work for the Hoffman research group, or gci research. The parent company is named gateway communications and they do voter id, and they also raise money for small business and missions nation wide.