It’s widely accepted that the defeat of former delegate Dick Black, considered the most anti-gay member of the General Assembly before his involuntary 2005 “retirement,” was largely due to voter impatience with his obsessive focus on sexually oriented social issues. That’s why the bloggers at Too Conservative were hopeful that the Republican challenger in the 2007 race was a different breed, one who wouldn’t rely on gay-bashing as a substitute for substantive campaigning. Apparently not.
There are now reports of a push poll made by the Lynn Chapman campaign to voters in the 32nd district. One resident describes the call he received in a letter to the editor in this week’s Loudoun Connection:
Mr. Chapman, who is challenging Del. David Poisson, apparently hired a Salt Lake City-based company called Venture Data to conduct a poll that was disgusting in its techniques…
…I was asked if my vote for the House of Delegates would be affected if I knew that Delegate Poisson is “a closet homosexual.” First of all, I’ve known David many years and know he is not gay and is happily married with a lovely wife and daughter. Secondly, it is a smear against gay people to suggest that their sexual orientation makes them unfit for office.
It looks like someone is terribly out of touch with Loudoun County voters, once again. How isolated must Chapman’s advisors be to think that this behavior will result in anything other than astonishment and disgust?
I imagine that the Poisson campaign folks are dancing on their desks right now, but for those who were hoping for a serious, two-sided discussion of the issues, all I can say is “I’m sorry.” How disappointing.
Update: Others blogging and reporting:
Loudoun Connection
Living in LoCo
Not Larry Sabato
Hooda Thunk?
One of the commenters at TC says that the pollster would only speak with “the male of the house” when they called. This just gets better and better.
I really have to wonder about this poll. You have to say who you are when you poll in VA and they had to know that. It is also interesting that when I looked up the names of the people who sent letters to the editor in were local democtatic activist and Poisson supporter. I will admit that I am a Republican, but I still think I smell a rat. Chapman is no Dick Black
Then you must not be following all the links. Loudoun Insider, who is by no means a Poisson supporter, learned about this poll over a week ago. He waited until there was corroboration to say anything. I can’t understand why the Chapman campaign is silent. If this poll was somehow done without their informed consent it would seem to be in their interest to speak up. In fact, it would be in their interest to speak up regardless.
Candidates sometimes do stupid things; this is not news. More interesting from our perspective is the suggestion that this poll could only be an act of political sabotage. That’s quite an admission to make about the inclination of the voters to be fair-minded and uninterested in electing anti-gay bigots.
Questions I have for Loudoun Connection’s Kim Centazzo and any one else who actually believes that the Chapman campaign or any campaign for that matter would actually so a poll like the one they are accused of:
First I would like to know what background information was done on the two letters to the editor? I found that one of the individuals is an active party donator and activist. I also wonder if there is anyway to verify if they actually received polling calls.
One of the Letters to the Editor was sent in by a woman named Patricia Turner. She said “One of the reasons I voted for Delegate Poisson two years ago was that he wanted to discuss issues that mattered to citizens.” That quote has about as much fact to it as the outrageous accusations on the Chapman campaign. She is a democratic activist, a Patricia Morrissey donor and supporter in 2003, she is also a former treasurer for the Loudoun County Democratic Party and that is why she voted for David Poisson!
Did it ever dawn on Kim Centazzo, the writer of the LC story, that she may have become a pawn in their political tactics or does she actually believe these questions were asked? Did she take the time to get more sources other than these two or three letters? I have wondered what happened to Dan Rather for months now. I can sleep easy tonight because I know that he has landed in Loudoun County and is helping Kim Centazzo with her articles attacking the Chapman campaign.
PS”¦I just a polling call from Karol Rove. One of the questions asked was “would I be more likely to support Bush policies if I knew he controlled the weather and was a closet homosexual” I’ll be sending a letter to the editor of the LC addressing that polling question soon.
Nick,
Don’t you think it’s a bit presumptuous to proclaim why someone else voted the way they did, especially when your statement contradicts what they themselves have just said?
It’s been widely discussed elsewhere that constituents were fed up with Dick Black’s inattention to quality of life issues like education, because he was so busy bashing gay people and women who use contraceptives. That ain’t news. It shouldn’t be a surprise that active Democrats would support the Democratic candidate, either.
Attacking journalists doesn’t help your case. It’s beyond question at this point that these calls were made by someone. If Chapman wasn’t behind it, good for him. I, for one, am glad to hear it. Clearly there are still individuals in our community who are that hateful, but I would much rather that they not run for office.
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