News 
Critics call Senate-race poll slanted toward Doherty, unfair to Donoghue
JULY 17, 2010
By Matt Murphy BOSTON -- A poll being conducted in the 1st Middlesex Senate district has left tongues wagging in recent days, as those who have received the call describe the questions as slanted to disparage one candidate and pump up the credentials of her rival. Former Lowell Mayor Eileen Donoghue and Chris Doherty, a former Middlesex County prosecutor, are vying for the Democratic nomination to succeed state Sen. Steve Panagiotakos, D-Lowell, in the Legislature. Local residents began reporting receiving the telephone survey early this week, and described the questions as intentionally written to smear the reputation of Donoghue. The poll reportedly includes misleading statements about Donoghue's career in public service, attempting to glean voters' responses to claims that she repeatedly voted for unbalanced budgets and higher property taxes as a member of the City Council and only wants the job of senator for a few years to boost her pension. Donoghue, by law, was required to pass a balanced budget on the City Council and has never paid into the public pension system. The poll also makes reference to some potentially unsavory defendants she may have represented when working as a defense attorney. "Anybody who isn't aware of what the process is, might think, 'Oh my god, is that true?' Whether you're in favor of Doherty or Eileen, it was pretty slanted in opinion," said Kristen Ross-Sitcawich, a Lowell resident and Donoghue supporter who was polled on Wednesday night. The pollster also reportedly asks participants to rate their positive or negative reaction to statements that boost Doherty's resume, including claims that he fought to pass legislation to help parents keep sex offenders out of neighborhoods; worked to expand the new law that gives women the ability to get restraining orders against their abusers; and worked for U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan to help steer millions of dollars from the federal government to the district. Those polled are asked to rate their impressions of political figures in the state, including Gov. Deval Patrick, Panagiotakos, and former Congressman Marty Meehan, for whom Doherty worked before joining the Middlesex District Attorney's Office. The Sun has not heard the questions firsthand, but confirmed the general content through a variety of sources. Polling can be used by candidates for a variety of purposes, including as a way to gauge their standing in the race or test the effectiveness of potential campaign themes. "Push polls," however, are sometimes employed to leave participants with a negative impression of one or more candidates in a race. "I don't believe in push polls," Doherty said. Doherty would neither confirm nor deny that his campaign had funded the poll in question, and declined to comment on whether his campaign had done any polling thus far in the race. Donoghue's campaign said they have not yet done any polling. "This campaign is about issues and ideas like the economic plan we released two days ago designed to put people in our district back to work," Doherty told The Sun. "I don't think the public cares to hear about internal polls and campaign strategies." Donoghue's campaign, however, has little doubt that their rival is behind the polling tactic. "If he's not going to comment on his internal poll, we're not going to comment," said one campaign spokesman earlier this week, who said Donoghue herself received the poll on Wednesday night. Her campaign followed up with a much tougher statement yesterday. "Candidates who use push polls assume voters are stupid. They aren't. Wasting money on them means the candidate is stupid," said Scott Ferson, a spokesman for the Donoghue campaign. The origin of the poll could not be confirmed, but the phone numbers reported to The Sun as showing up on caller-ID trace back to an Alabama research firm called The Parker Group. Calls to the Parker Group were not returned. Candidates in the race are not required to report their campaign spending until Sept. 7 when it could be possible to determine if the Parker Group had been hired by a candidate or an outside group to perform the survey. http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_15539288
