Huckabee calls for outlaw of negative special interest push polls
Jan 19th, 2008 by Rob
Mike Huckabee spoke out this week against push polling, a negative campaign tactic in which a candidate’s supporters (typically outside interest groups) conduct spurious telephone polls containing questions with negative or false information about other candidates.
Huckabee told NPR that he would like to see stricter regulation of this type of campaigning, which is reaching millions of people thanks to computerized dialing programs:
I personally wish all of this were outlawed. I think that every candidate ought to speak for himself. Candidates can’t force these … special interest groups to stop,” he said. “I wish we could, because frankly, they’re not doing me a favor by carrying out things and tactics that I don’t personally agree with.”
Several bloggers and other observers have expressed concern that Huckabee’s comments amount to an indication of his desire to restrict political speech. The governor says his main issue with the polls is that they tie a candidate’s name to inaccurate information.
Huckabee’s latest comments come in the wake of allegations that his own campaign has been using push poll tactics against rival candidates. Common Sense Issues, a nonprofit political group that admits to using automated calls to spread information about certain candidates, says the calls should be considered an educational service rather than a politically motivated attack on personal character.
A recorded copy of one of the polls is being passed around online.
