How ironic that a piece dedicated to hightlighting Republican dirty-tricks campaigning would lean so heavily on guilt-by-association name-dropping. Touting the strengths of Democrat candidates, and pointing out the manipulative tactics of the misleading polling, is legitimate. But, the broad-brush taint of invoking the name of Karl Rove, and cherry-picking the smears of national recognition as a means to further vilify the opposition comes across as a desparate attempt scare the marginally faithful. All politics is local, Val, so leave the swift-boating of the opposition to those willing to hoist themselves on their own petard.

Careful Val. You know full well that Vicki - or others on her behalf - did a bit of unsavory push polling in her last election and that she used the info for a nasty hit piece containing very little truth that went out a day or two before ballots dropped.

Senator Walker is no one's victim. I wouldn't think it was in her interest to be painted as one.

Never be surprised by dirty Republican campaigning. They can't help it. They're made that way. Afterall, that's why they're Republicans.

Democrats seem to campaign dirty only when they run against each other. Go figure.

Does it occur to anybody that maybe the polling outfit is staffed by a bunch of apolitical grunts who don't know their Democrats from Republicans and that they simply screwed up the script?

Why does everything in this country have to be a conspiracy or dirty tricks?

I guess we have a different idea about the meaning of "swift-boating." I disagree that it "was about smearing someone with lies." It was about underminig the credibility of someone by trying to spin new meaning into the minutia of events from the past. By simply raising the question in people's minds, half the work and damage is already done. Nobody is suggesting that we "should be required to help them," either. I'm just concerned that we take a higher road of campaign integrity by elevating the quality of debate, rather than retreat to the tactics of fear.

is there a single person out there that truly believes this was an innocent error? this is how the republicans have been playing for years.

pointing out Jim Torrey's strident support of Bush in 2004 (2000 alone would be a different story) is not swift-boating. Eugene voters deserve to know that Torrey is not the second coming of Tom McCall. He reminds me more of another Republican that championed education while running for office - none other than George Bush. No Child Left Behind would might have been great for American schools had President Bush put the funding behind it. I see no reason to believe that Jim Torrey (who was surprisingly willing to support Bush after the first four years of no child left behind given his rumored support for schools) is going to be any different for Oregon.

Sorry about the typos. I was on the phone.

I can't believe all the excuses I'm hearing for Torrey. In my experience working on issue campaigns, polling costs BIG bucks and those pollsters dot their I's and cross their T's before making a single call. Everyone has the same script and the info would be useless if it wasn't crafted right. Sure, it is possible that it was an honest mistake......but HIGHLY unlikely. Maybe we can check Jim Torrey's financial filings with the state to see if there was payment to a polling company followed by a refund. That would indicate an honest mistake. My bet is that we will find no such refund.

-What Proof beside innuendo is there that this was a trick by the Torrey campaign?

It's very arrogant to state that as a result of the popularity of Sen. Walker that a Republican would try to attempt trick a few people to vote for him 3 months down the line. That's a huge stretch of the imagination.

-Lane County is the second largest county in the state and key to winning back the Oregon House, keeping the Senate strongly Democratic and bring in the votes to re-elect Ted. - I guess I would expect more from the Lane County Democrat chair. Lane County is the 4th largest county by population.

Counties By Population
1. Multnomah - 665,810 2. Washington - 445,342 3. Clackamas - 338,391 4. Lane - 322,959 5. Marion - 284,834

Those scripts are checked and double checked by the campaigns and everyone involved before a call is ever made. I have a hard time believing an error like that could get past that many people.

Yes, but what proof is there that it came out of the Torrey camp?

As one who has no problem admitting my errors, I will admit that Lane is 3rd rather than second in terms of numbers of Democratic votes that we can bring in. We have the third largest number Democrat and Independent voter turnout and the highest percentage of Democratic voter turnout of the five counties previously mentioned by PSU Mark. Lane County has an excellent chance of helping to pick up 2 of the 4 seats needed to take back the House and will bring in votes for Democrats from the top of the ticket down.

In terms of the afor mentioned poll there are a few facts:

1. This wasn't an error, the questions that were asked before the R/D switch were very leading, untrue and negative towards Senator Vicki Walker and positive towards Jim Torrey. The "questions" referred to local hot button issues that were specific to that Senate district and not statewide issues. This was not a poll to get information but rather to smear Sen. Walker.

2. I do not believe that the poll came directly out of the Torrey campaign and called his campaign manager today to confirm that. However, I do believe that this was done by a group of people within the Republican Party who support Jim Torrey. He chose to sign on with a political party where this type of behavior is becoming commonplace and unfortunately he will be linked with these actions when his name is used in a poll.

3. I am only calling it like I see it, someone on the other side is playing dirty and we will not tolerate it. The only way that local Democrats and candidates could be painted as victims is if we allowed this type of unethical behavior to go unchallenged. There is no way that I plan to stand back and come up with lame excuses for the 5 people who called our office irate about the push poll. My job as Chairperson is to take a stand and you can bet if one of our candidates pulled this same thing, The Republican party would be out front accusing us of destroying the morals and values in our community.

4. There are no Democratic campaigns in Lane County that are using this type of bogus push-polling. None.

Oh, Golly - how loud can I laugh? I'm supposed to believe that any foolishness pulled out of a Republican pocket is anything but lint and dirt? Please... We've had five years of the most dreadful pack of scumbags to ever wear a tinny brass crown and somehow this Torrey poll is simply a dumb error? I'd agree it's dumb all right, but certainly not in error. Smells just like the RNC to me - fat armpits splashed with cheap cologne. Parfum de Torrie. Ah, but it doesn't hide that telltale odor, Jimmy... I'll make a serious wager that it's actually Torrey himself calling, using Jim Feldkamp's script. In which case maybe it is an error... Advice for Vicki: Torrey's sad arse should be harnessed to his party. Look for the similarities and hammer away. You won't look far. "What's one more Republican in this nightmare we live in? Think about it." Use that. Over and over. Don't be nice; they aren't nice people. They are venomous and vile people. They are snakes. The bad news they've created will just get badder. Count on it. And use it. Let the snakes eat their own stinking tails.

Okay, okay already. You can all get off my back. The Republicans are evil. Democrats are all innocent paragons of virtue.

I get it.

I have been pondering a line by Person Sponge: “I’m just concerned that we take a higher road of campaign integrity by elevating the quality of debate, rather than retreat to the tactics of fear.”

Yes, indeed it is such a challenge to take the higher road of campaign integrity, but it is the honorable thing to do whenever possible, especially when dealing with string pullers (or snakes) who use or set in motion tactics that remind us of Karl Rove – the super snake role model. But Sponge, while you imply that Val is retreating to the tactics of fear, I just gotta tell ya I don’t see it that way. Granted, I suppose some folks experience fear when they read such stuff, as in a fear that our future is going to be devoid of social justice and progressive politicians. (The thought of this makes me somewhat anxious on occasion.) However, when I read about the Torrey poll that Val is sharing with us, what I experienced was outright anger. And I think anger, when channeled into constructive action and revealing the truth, is entirely appropriate.

I look forward to finding out what Vicki has to say about this, if not in this venue, perhaps elsewhere. She is indeed the better of the two candidates! Plus, I know she is most capable of working with folks on both side of the aisle.

Oh and by the way, while tommyboy speaks in broad generalities about Republicans with smelly armpits, and I know from personal experience that not all Republicans are snakes, I found his contribution at 4 am today to be most entertaining. Folks, even when we are dead serious about our anger and what we are gonna do about it, we gotta be able to find humor in the tragedy. Thanks tb for providing some laughs in regards to the newly marketed product with the same old smell -- Parfum de Torrie!

Learning about unethical "push polls" from the experts at the National Council on Public Polls (www.ncpp.org):

In recent years, some political campaigns and special-interest groups have used a technique called "push polls" to spread rumors and even outright lies about opponents. These efforts are not polls, but political manipulation trying to hide behind the smokescreen of a public opinion survey.

In a "push poll," a large number of people are called by telephone and asked to participate in a purported survey. The survey "questions" are really thinly-veiled accusations against an opponent or repetitions of rumors about a candidate’s personal or professional behavior. The focus here is on making certain the respondent hears and understands the accusation in the question, not in gathering the respondent’s opinions.

"Push polls" are unethical and have been condemned by professional polling organizations.

"Push polls" must be distinguished from some types of legitimate surveys done by political campaigns. At times, a campaign poll may ask a series of questions about contrasting issue positions of the candidates – or various things that could be said about a candidate, some of which are negative. These legitimate questions seek to gauge the public’s reaction to a candidate’s position or to a possible legitimate attack on a candidate’s record.

A legitimate poll can be distinguished from a "push poll" usually by:

The number of calls made – a push poll makes thousands and thousands of calls, instead of hundreds for most surveys; The identity of who is making the telephone calls – a polling firm for a scientific survey as opposed to a telemarketing house or the campaign itself for a "push poll;" The lack of any true gathering of results in a "push poll," which has as its only objective the dissemination of false or misleading information.

BTW, have you laid eyes on Torrey's giant billboard on W. 11th yet - it declares his honesty, integrity, or some such traits - oh, the irony. Does the size of the billboard cover some inadequacy in his campaign?

We are going to elevate Senator Vicki Walker over Jim Torrey and his money. You can help.

Join the Lane County Bus Project on Saturday August 12th as we canvass voters in Eugene. Its easy, we will train you, and we promise good times and the best value for your volunteer minute.

Contact [email protected] or 541-344-9999 to come out and make a difference.

Lane County Bus Project, proudly claiming our title as 4th place chili makers.

James Mattiace Chair Lane County Bus Project

"Maybe we can check Jim Torrey's financial filings with the state to see if there was payment to a polling company followed by a refund. That would indicate an honest mistake. My bet is that we will find no such refund."

My bet is that you won't find any entry paying for a poll at all. Polls are usually paid for by the caucus offices and in-kinded to the campaigns.

red.

Hmmm, seems mighty suspicious, all this bru-ha-ha over he-said, she-said.

I understand the only reason why this is bein' mentioned here is 'cause the press wouldn't touch it. Seems that only one person made the claim and nobody in the press could find confirmation. And seein' that both parties don't run their push-polls until after Labor Day when people start listenin', this all seems mighty squirrly even for an independent Democrat like myself.

Careful there on the character assasination. According to your logic, guilt by association and indirect comparison can be a very dangerous thing. For example, say someone like Joe Leiberman was running for re-election and the fringe left of the party didn't like his stand on the war. Well, Joe is Jewish, and Israel is on record supporting the war. So according to the logic of the author, the natural conclusion is that anyone opposed to the war or opposed to Leiberman must be anti-sematic.

Sounds downright silly, 'sept that I think one of them fellers in Hollywood got his shorts in the fire for that one.

Any good Democrat can win on their own, on their record and talking about things that matter to us simple voters. And Walker can handle herself against any push-poll that the fringe right can throw against her. What we don't need a bunch of Bush-hatin' mongers using Republican character-assasination tactics and makin' doomsday accusations that get voters riled up and feelin' sorry for her opponent. We tried that before, in 2000 qnd 2004. Didn't work then, won't work now.

I understand the only reason why this is bein' mentioned here is 'cause the press wouldn't touch it. Seems that only one person made the claim and nobody in the press could find confirmation

Actually there were three people who were willing to go on record with the press as to the calls, one of which wrote letters to the editor in our local papers. I can't speak to why the papers didn't pick the story up but to say that push polls and dirty tricks only happen after September isn't true. Right now the press isn't paying attention so it is the perfect time to pull dirty tricks. This is the type of win at all costs ruthless partisanship that has become so common in the Republican party. Our problem in 2000 and 2004 was that instead of standing up and fighting back, Gore and Kerry backed down or ignored the attack.

For us to ignore these calls would be wrong and would let whoever is making the calls think it is OK to continue. I am very hopeful that Jim Torrey will put the word out that this type of behavior should stop as it hurts his campaign and his reputation. We can then run a campaign on issues and on who would be the best Senator for that district.

I believe Vicki will win on her record, she will win because she works hard and she we will work hard to help her but in the meantime, we will not allow ourselves to be pushed around or bullied by faceless cowards hiding behind a push poll.

I know that everyone is fired-up over this issue, but has anyone taken the time to verify this story?

It should be a fairly simple task especially through caller ID phone records, public campaign expense filings, etc. to determine who the pollsters were making the calls.

If this were indeed the case, then there are grounds for legal action to be taken. However, if this story is not true and being spread as truth, then we become the legally liable spreaders of lies.

I know that everyone is fired-up over this issue, but has anyone taken the time to verify this story?

Wow, talk about blaming the victim. The Secretary of State will follow up with the legal aspects of this case, for our part we are just reporting the facts as we heard them and working that much harder to win.

Val

Blaming the victim? You can't BLAME a victim until one has been found. I'm old enough and wise enough to know that political trickery occurs on both sides of the aisle, Val.

All I have to say is should this RUMOR as it now stands prove to be false, then God help those spreading it for the repercussions politically and in the court room.

It just doesn't pass the ... smell test... something doesn't... smell right to me about this story.

I wouldn't have brought it up if I didn't have multiple sources to back it up, we got even more today. The Secretary of States office will follow it up and I have no worries about political or legal ramifications on our side.