Eminent Domain, Abortion Campaigners Survey by Phone

At least a couple groups are already spending money to find out what the winning issues will be in November. This week, Madville Times has had two phone survey calls, both from Sun Surveys of Miami, Florida. The call Sunday was all about the Senate Bill 174, the eminent domain favor Pierre passed for DM&E which now is being referred to a public vote. Last night another poller called to ask about the latest initiative on reproductive rights.

Both calls were lengthy -- 15-20 minutes, maybe more. Both surveys followed a similar structure: questions about my approval of elected officials, followed by questions about the ballot measures. Both surveys went through lists of arguments for and against each measure and my opinion of how convincing I found those arguments, or whether those arguments made me more or less likely to vote for or against each measure.

An interesting difference: the survey on the reproductive rights measure asked specifically whom I would vote for in a race between Tim Johnson and Joel Dykstra for Senate. Evidently the folks commissioning the survey have already written off the Kephart and Gonyo campaigns.

Also interesting: yesterday's survey also noted that South Dakota Right to Life has taken a stand against, the current initiative since it includes exceptions. The interviewer asked my if SDRL's position made me more or less likely to vote for the ban. I had to scratch my head for a moment: how to answer? I'd love to hear how the SDRL crowd would answer a similar question: "Does the Madville Times's opposition to this measure make you more or less likely to vote for the ban?"

I asked Wednesday's interviewer which group, pro or con, had hired him to make the call. He couldn't tell me -- and for science's sake, I suppose there's some benefit that the questioners not know for whom they are working. If they knew SDRL was paying their salaries, they might feel inclined to say, "Are you voting for" with a little more positive, encouraging intonation than "or are you voting against...?"

A note to whoever is paying for these surveys: you're not quite getting your money's worth. Sun Surveys' website promises "our interviewers are accent neutral...." Don't think so: at the opening of last night's call, I thought I was on the horn with Bombay again.