NOM Robo-Calling D.C. Residents with Trick Same-Sex Marriage Poll
The National Organization for Marriage has been robo-calling D.C. residents this week and polling them on same-sex marriage. With, as DailyKos reports, a trick question:
Ordinarily, I hang up on all telemarketing calls, but today I got a robocall survey from the National Organization for Marriage.
It consisted of two questions.
First "Are you a registered voter" Answer -- Yes
Second -- Do you believe that marriage between only one man and one woman should be legal? My answer -- No
Now this is obviously a trick question. Take out the word "only" and the answer is obviously "yes". But stick in the word "only" and for a marriage equality supporter such as myself, the only answer that you can give is "no." But, of course, can you expect a bunch of homophobes to ask an hones question, such as "Do you believe that marriage should be legal between gay and lesbian couples?"
Charlie Watson at GLAA Forum guesses the call is about fund-raising:
"While it might be expensive to send a fund raising letter to every voter in DC, it will be much more cost-effect to target people who have indicated they are opposed to equal treatment of gay people. When the banks of telephone solicitors start gearing up it will be most beneficial to place calls to the homes where people support your position. Opponents of same sex marriage have been very ineffective at stirring up city voters to support their position (Harry Jackson announced his last protest, to be held at the Capitol Visitors Center, but the event never came off. He probably thought he would look silly there alone.) But that doesn't mean they have given up on making a buck off of it."
A commenter there suggests it's about voter identification.
"Charlie Watson at GLAA Forum guesses the call is about fund-raising"
Why would they undermine their effort by asking an intentionally ambiguous question? That doesn't make any sense.
Posted by: ♂ | Mar 14, 2010 4:24:30 PM
I disagree, either the author's answer should have been "yes." The way the question is phrased, they are asking, in effect, "Do you support keeping monogamous ("only one"), heterosexual marriages legal?" Which, I assume, you do. There is absolutely nothing about homosexual marriages at all in that question. Now, IF they had said, "Do you believe that ONLY marriage between one man and one woman should be legal," THEN you should have answered "no."
Posted by: Connor | Mar 14, 2010 5:23:16 PM
Connor,
Of course 'Yes' is the answer the question as stated. But its an obvious fraud question to gather 'Yes' votes to fatten a poll those cretins will use in fund raising.
Of course, when they use it, they'll say such-and-such percent of DC voters believe marriage should be "between a man and a woman" like they always do.
It's a bullsh*t poll so I would've answer 'No' also.
Posted by: Taylor Siluwe | Mar 14, 2010 6:39:44 PM
I'm involved with charities enough to know that the regulations around these calls are much more strict than ever before. Someone who knows more than me should check out if what they are doing is legal.
Posted by: Scott | Mar 14, 2010 10:16:19 PM
This trick question is clearly meaningless, because of the misplaced modifier.
All these numbers will tell them is how many people think a monogamous marriage between a man and woman should not be made ILLEGAL. All of their "no" votes would indicate how many people think one-man-one-woman marriages should be OUTLAWED, which is surely rare, indeed.... (Or is it? hmmm... We'll see.)
Now what if we were to pose a similar question, changing only the sexes in the question "Do you support keeping marriages between only one woman and one woman legal?" Surely they would understand that those answer yes (who support one woman's right to marry one other woman) do not necessarily want to have a woman arrested if she marries a man if she wants to!
Posted by: GregV | Mar 14, 2010 11:33:21 PM
HETEROSEXUAL-ONLY MARRIAGE
That's what they want. Don't be fooled, they don't care about procreation or children. It's all about keeping marriage heterosexual-only and outcasting gay people from their legal rights.
Posted by: Bill | Mar 15, 2010 11:08:21 AM
I believe Connor has this right. It's not necessarily about the inclusion of the word "only," but rather its placement.
"Do you believe that marriage BETWEEN ONLY one man and one woman should be legal?"
is different from...
"Do you believe that marriage ONLY BETWEEN one man and one woman should be legal?"
The latter is a same-sex marriage question.
The former is a question that implies a negative answer is supportive of polygamy. When faced with this question, my answer should be "yes."
And that is, what Connor and I believe, is an effort to game the number of "Yes" votes.
The DailyKos guy was right, but for the wrong reasons.
Posted by: TommyOC | Mar 15, 2010 2:17:18 PM