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Push poll sullies supervisor race

March 27, 2014

push pollBy KAREN VELIE

A mysterious group has been placing highly misleading phone calls to south San Luis Obispo County voters, trying to dissuade them from voting for Mike Byrd or Lynn Compton in the June supervisorial election.

San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisor races have a reputation for political dirty tricks, and this year’s battle for District 4 supervisor between Byrd, Compton and Caren Ray is no exception. One popular tactic to mislead voters is known as a “push poll,” where workers phone voters under the guise of conducting a poll, and ask questions designed to give voters misleading impressions of political opponents.

During the past several weeks, voters in south San Luis Obispo County say they have been asked to participate in a poll about the upcoming election. If the voter agrees, a series of misleading questions follow.

Arroyo Grande resident Lin Hill said she received a call a few weeks ago from a person who said they were taking a quick poll regarding several issues facing voters on the next ballot. The caller went on to ask if Hill had heard of Mike Byrd, Caren Ray or Lynn Compton, Hill said.

“The caller asked if I was aware and did I care that Mike Byrd and Lynn Compton are members of the Tea Party,” Hill said. The caller then asked how Hill felt about the Tea Party compared to the Democrat and Republican parties.

However, the Tea Party is a movement that backs some candidates, primarily Republicans, but it is not a political party and nether Compton nor Byrd are members of the Tea Party.

Hill and other community members who participated in the poll said the caller also asked how they felt about Byrd and Compton not having any political experience.

However, in the late 70s and early 80s, Byrd spent eight years as the administrative assistant to Kern County Supervisor Jene Tackett.

Next, callers were asked how they felt about Compton funding her campaign with $100,000 of her own money, sources said.

However, of the $136,576 in contributions Compton reported on her California Form 460, $36,274 was provided by herself and her husband Pete Compton, with the remaining $100,302 coming from over 250 unique donors.

At the end the poll, voters were asked if they were aware Ray was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown, several poll recipients said.

Correction: Lynn Compton is not associated with the Tea Party.

 


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Here’s the real joke folks. We get would up about this article questioning if this occurred but when you look at Compton’s expenditures, she has over $10,000 spent to buy her spot on slate cards. For those of you who do not know what this is, they are effectively paid endorsements from some official sounding group that has all the buzz words the target audience wants to hear. Candidates buy their spots and these guys send you mailers acting as if careful analysis has brought them to conclude that this or that candidate is best. The careful analysis is in fact making sure the check cleared. It is essentially deceitful.


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Hey! I’m glad you agree with me that Adam Hill purchased his way onto a phoney “Republican Voter Guide” slate in 2012. The one where he helped carry Abel Maldonado’s ad (against Lois Capps), next to big tobacco’s No on Prop 29 ad.


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I have no idea, I’m not a supporter of his but if that is the case I agree. That is fully deceptive.


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Since when did being associated with the tea party become a bad thing. It’s like people are implying a negative connection to the group.


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It’s like this person and the writer think that way. I for one think that any group that supports protecting constitutional liberties should be considered worthy of support.


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OLD TRICK, JUST FILL IN NEW NAMES OF THE BAD GUYS


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The Tea Party is this Nations last hope…The proof of this is just how frightened the Dems AND Republicans are of the Tea Party. I wish that dweeb would have push polled me. His ears would still be ringing.

The Tea Party was right about Obamacare, the IRS, the NSA, ect…………Have the guts to believe the truth.


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Rambunctious,


Praise your enlightenment towards the Tea Party and what it represents, particularly it’s godly zealous Christian values in following ALL of the godly inspired word of the bible!


If the TP Christians could only get a majority in our government, and put the bible to work as God intended, then the following godly inspired biblical principles can be enacted by them at once, praise!


The problems with gays would be literally eliminated by their death (Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1:26-27).


Christians could Kill any friends or family that worship a god that is different from their own! ( Deuteronomy 13: 7-12)


Christians couldn’t associate with non-Christians and they can’t receive them into their house or even exchange greeting with them. (2 John 1:10)


Christians will make it law that everyone will have to worship Jesus whether they want to or not! (Philippians 2:10)


Christians cannot be accused of any wrongdoing! (Romans 8:33)


Christians can enact that we’re to follow God’s laws instead of mans! (Acts 5:29)


Christians would be able to kill witches or Sorcerers! (Exodus 22:17)


Christians could kill their kids if they hit them! (Exodus 21:15)


Christians could also put kids to death if they cursed at them, as Jesus by proxy condones! (Matthew 15: 3-4)


Whew, oh my, there’re just too many godly inspired biblical principles equal to the ones listed above to list that will obviously be enacted as law if the Tea Party Christians can get control of our government.


Rambunctious, let us pray that the Tea Party Bible Christians wins hand’s down this coming November, and let us look forward to them taking control in 2016!!!


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Brother Ted …what sayeth the Bible in regards to Liars, Hypocrites and Whoremongers ?


RE: Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana who solicited prostitutes, employed a known criminal, and tried to bribe a cabinet official . ( Sen. Vitter is currently running for governor there ).


What about serial divorcers, like Rush Limbaugh who is on his fourth marriage.


Tennessee congressman Scott DesJarlais, a physician by trade that has had several documented affairs with patients.


These represent a mere fraction of the multitude of sinners just in public office …to say nothing about the vast numbers of blatant idolators so conspicuous in places of power.


Ah well …at least a few of us, a faithful splinter, will be prepared with our ‘Jesus blankets’ of divine protection !


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Brother Slowerfaster,


Your aforementioned ungodly acts are summed up within one passage, to wit:

“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)


As we see, there is a portion of our God’s Hell with a burning sulfur lake where the detestable of God’s creation will spend eternity subsequent to their demise.


I find it embarrassing that the GOP Christians in our government that you mentioned are giving Christianity such a bad name. The Hebrew God will sort them out in the end, as He will do with any other candidate that follows the same path, praise!


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The funniest post in a long time. Thank you!


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Ted I would suggest you settle your grievances with your religious upbringing before you go on line.


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Rambutious,


I have no resentment with the bible verses that I have shown and what they pertain because they’re within context to your aforementioned subjective opinion and they represent the inspired word of the Hebrew God. Who am I to argue with God’s direct word, can you?


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Any connection of the “Tea Party” and Christians exists in your head only. I’ve never seen that link made anywhere else. People that associate with the Tea Party do so because of a thing called freedom. Freedom of speech freedom of religion and freedom to associate. That is a welcomed concept to many Americans…not just Christians.

Lately some of the most bitter disagreement with the Tea Party comes from the Catholic Church.

I think your linking of the two is way off base and only shows the color of the lenses you’re looking through. Saying it does not make it true.


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Rambunctious,


What makes anything true is actual FACT, an entity that is rarely used by the pseudo-christian crowd in many areas. Therefore, click on the link below to prove my point in that the Tea Party is more Religious Right than Jesus ever thought of being!


https://www.google.com/search?q=tea+party+christian+fundamentalist+signs&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=2ak4U67DD8KbygGqtIGgAQ&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg&biw=1939&bih=944


Therefore, the Tea Party being such religious right-wing Christians as shown in the link above, then it only stands to reason that if the TP takes control of our government, then the biblical passages given in my post in question above will have to to enacted as laws to prevent the TP from being outright hypocrites to their bible faith. A Simple logical deduction.


At this time, you don’t look good in rose-colored glasses.


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Rambunctious,


But what cannot be denied is the FACTOID that the Tea Patry runs with the Religious Right Crowd, period!


Therefore, once again, the scriptures that I have given above should be enacted post haste “if” the TP gets control of the government, to prevent them from being Christian hypocrites, which is so easy for this faction to do.


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A relatively small faction of overweight and addlepated seniors that fantasize in ‘dress-up’ and flount what amounts to peashooters are not scary.


Disturbing, ….maybe.


” In your guts, you know they’re nuts ! “


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“Ridiculing the tea party shenanigans is a serious error,” Chomsky said.

http://www.progressive.org/wx041210.html


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Well, Chomsky is just historically innaccurate in this instance. Hitler and the Nazi’s took quite a long time to develop from the “Beer Hall Putsch” and the Brownshirts before they bamboozled the bulk of non-thinking Deutschlanders. They didn’t lambaste the bankers or the war materials manufacturers ( corporartions ) either. they went after the little guy: minorities, trade uunionists, homosexuals, and finally …Jews.


Ask any committed TP’er today ( if they will answer without guile ) “WHO is responsible for the troubles in America today?” … and they will answer similar.

They will scapegoat ‘illegals’, ‘gays’, ‘minorities’ in dog-whistle code, ‘Obama’; but never the Wall Streeters’ , the corporations, the war profiteers.


They’re cut from the same type of cloth.


It isn’t ridicule if it’s the truth.


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BREAKING the CODE :


As the article states …Ms. Hill says that she was asked how she ” …felt about the Tea Party compared to the Democrat or Republican parties”.


There is NO ‘Democrat’ party. That is a common form of right-wing branding, started by none other than disgraced demagogue, Sen. Joseph McCarthy.


There IS a Democratic party.


Given this, I doubt that these push-poll calls were commissioned by any candidate or their surrogates. It just reeks of meddling and trying to muddy the waters by some extremist kooks with too much money and too much time on their hands.


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Wrong, democratic is a process. The word democratic has been hijacked by the democrat party.


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The ‘Democratic Party’ of the United States is considered by most learned authorities to be the oldest political party in the world.

Initially, the ‘Democratic-Republican Party’ under Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe; it was re-organised during the Second Party System in the early 1830’s, and became more simply known as the ‘Democratic Party’ in 1832 under President Andrew Jackson and later by Presidents Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk.


The party, and its name: Democratic Party, remain in effect up to the present.


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Adam Hill’s nincompoopery is a very strange phenomenon.


While it doesn’t match the symptoms of tic douloureux, it is hauntingly similar as to how shockingly inappropriate it is.


Indeed, the word “douloureux” is translated to “painful” in English, and Adam Hill’s nincompoopery outbursts are certainly painful to those who have to experience it.


Perhaps Adam Hill has a different type of “douloureux”…a “nincompoop douloureux,” which causes him to burst forth with nincompoopery which is painful to those who must experience it and deal with its aftermath.


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Its lining up to be another muddy race. When mud is invoived its the moniest candidate that usually wins. I was shocked by the number of out of area scumbag contractors that are contributing big bucks to Caren Rays campaign. She will owe them big favors if elected. I am not saying that the others won’t do the same, but ray should not be casting stones. And Mike Rice is already insulting our intelligence with this civility pledge. Its the wrong approach….the current BOD does not deserve civil treatment.


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Talk about mud! Please identify these “out of area scumbag contractors that have donated big bucks.”


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It’s OBVIOUSLY Caren Ray’s campaign spreading dis-information. Caren Ray paid “C&I Consulting” in Santa Barbara nearly $8,000 (live telephone surveys are expensive). C&I have also worked for Lois Capps and numerous other Dems.


While Lynn Compton thoroughly discloses where her consultants have spent money (numerous pages of Schedule G – Payments made by an Agent on behalf of the committee), Caren Ray posts no breakdown of where her consultant money was spent! (A violation of law if any sub-vendor received over $500). Another $6,121 went to “Chris Crotty Consulting”. Again, no breakdown is disclosed.


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A simple google search shows C&I Consulting as a fund raiser and Chris Crotty as a political consultant which seems clear.

Another view may be that Compton also lists meridian pacific consulting for $5000 and Amber Johnson for $4000 as a consultant and Byrd lists Paramount Communications as a consultant which generally means they are just that, consultants. Bryd does actually list having paid Paramount Communications for phone banking. Hmmm.


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That’s a bit unfair of me. I don’t for a moment think Bryd had anything to do with this. In fact I am sure it was a Ray poll gauging this issues with the voters that is now being presented inaccurately to spin the campaign. Anyone who knows Ray, knows that is not how she plays.


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That payment was for calls inviting folks to an open house in order to ask questions and to share ideas. On the next report you will see a similar payment for calls inviting seniors or anyone who cares about seniors to share coffee, donuts and ideas about issues of great importance to our senior population. You’re invited to stop by 930 E. Grand tomorrow (Saturday, March 29) to join in the conversation.


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Mr.Rice maybe correct. Check out ‘Elect Caren Ray’ Facebook page and you will see a mudslinging jab at Compton’s campaign contributors. It states that Ray’s contributors are comprised of hundreds of small donations from regular folks, unlike Compton’s own $34K personal injection.


Ray fails to mention some very large contributions from single not so regular deep pocket folks.


Deceitful, malicious, misleading and violating the law right out of the chute!


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Just wait, the mudslinging will get worse if Ms. Ray’s polls keep slipping as we move closer to the election


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It will definitely get worst because she has the support, knowledge, tactics experience of Adam Hill and Bruce Gibson. They need her on this Board at all costs, make no mistake about this. Anyone remember the tactics Hill used (impersonating slanderous phone call, “An advertising firm paid by Hill sent out the slate mailers titled “Attention Republicans: Election Day Voting Guide” to registered Republicans in the 3rd supervisor’s district.”,

and then let us not forgot the robocalls he made voting for himself at a high rate of a couple of thousand votes traced back to his computer.)


Ray has the experience of Hill and Gibson to help her win this election, ethical or not.


And above all, the Democratic Party still supports Hill and Gibson, two of the most immoral, ill-behaved, disrespectul supervisors this County has seen. We don’t need another one!


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Forgot to add this to my post above: “New Times, the Shredder wrote that its “IT guy” discovered that 5,349 votes were made from just three IP addresses.”


This was a CCN article “Hill supporters accused of manipulating poll” on May 3, 2012. A tactic he used in his 2012 re-election.


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And the Republican Party featured, at its national convention, a candidate who spent time in prison.


I think we can all agree that when we look at political parties we will find not one which can be seen as the equivalent as The Baby Jesus of politics.


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Plus the Democrats have a convicted felon in the state senate, on leave but still being paid……..


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I still want to impeach Nixon. I don’t care if he’s dead.


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But if Ms Ray gets back in look at the threesomes they could have behind closed doors.


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Slipping polls?


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Well you have no basis for the law violation statement and the rest could be viewed in an entirely different light depending on the accuracy of the story.


The statement about Rays Facebook posting seems a bit unfair to Byrd and Compton. If Ray posted about larger donors then Byrd would feel obligated to post that basically half his support comes from a single donor that was larger than Rays largest single donor and he might feel the need to mention that almost all the balance of his donations come from realtors and their political action committee.

Compton, not wanting to be left out, would then want to say “hey, I put in $40,000 of my own money” and then probably point out that most of the rest of her money comes from north county big ag and wineries that are depleting an aquifer. But because she is sharp, she probably would want to add that near the top of her big donor list are conservative groups including the group that brought us SuperPACs and unlimited unregulated corporate political donations.

That all seems like a lot of work and so unfair to them


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C&I may have also conducted surveys for Lois Capps and other Democrats, but that does not mean those surveys are in the same type of surveys done for Caren Ray.


The client of a polling company has control over the contents of the survey. The responsibility of the contents of the survey lies with the client and the people funding the survey.


I don’t think political surveys, especially close to election time, are valid assessments of anything…certainly not how a candidate will act when they are in office.


If a candidate doesn’t have a handle on mindset of the constituency they are hoping to serve before election time roles around, I view their polls as just trying to dig up results from the polling which will “prove” them to be the best candidate, or to make their opponent(s) look bad.


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.

When in the hell is the side of the candidates in question going to biblically stand up to these spurious phone calls? This has always been the problem with the pseudo-christian faction, they don’t follow ALL of the bible, and in the case of this story, they don’t fight fire with fire! Get it?


What the Hebrew God’s inspired word says in the bible, I am sure that He didn’t want his commands to be dismissed!


“Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. (Exodus 21:24)


“Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury.” (Leviticus 24:20)


“Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” (Deuteronomy 19:21)


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Hallelujah! Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition…


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Thank you Brother Pelican, and I can see that you agree that before a “pseudo-christian” can actually be called a “Christian”, they have to follow ALL of the inspired word of the Hebrew God’s bible.


The ammunition in this case would be a throw-away T-Mobile phone with some ingenious and talented phone operators on the other end enacting an eye for an eye!


Amen.


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Matthew 5:39: “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”


I decided before this campaign began to unilaterally agree to a Public Civility Pledge and urged other candidates and public officials to do likewise. I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but I am not going to travel this kind of road. If that makes me wanting as a politician, so be it. We will continue to speak openly about issues, differences and matters of character. We will not resort to questionable or unseemly tactics just to win.


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W.C. Fields 1941: Never give a sucker an even break.


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Michael Cassius McDonald: “There’s a sucker born every minute.” …misattributed to P. T. Barnum.


CCN does its part to prove this aphorism true.


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Mike Byrd,


Are you proposing that the bible contradicts itself with the passage that you have given, and where the verses that I have shown?


I am sure that I don’t have to tell you the ramifications of what a contradiction represents in the terms of truth and lies. Do you understand the term; “slippery slope?”


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And not ONE of the Christian Right candidates, who advocate strongly against GLBT rights, has ever stood up and advocated that the rest of the demands of Leviticus are upheld.


Have you ever seen ONE of these CR candidates (or TV-show patriarch) stand up and demand that all women, including their family members, who married without an intact hymen be slaughtered?


Indeed, these CR candidates who advocate against GLBT rights don’t even put their own rebellious children to death, something that Leviticus also demands.


The Old Testament is not for sissies, especially Leviticus. If political candidates are going to take biblical stands on one part of the Bible, they need to embrace ALL of the Bible’s admonitions. :-j


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Mary,


The biblical edicts that you’re referring too that the pseudo-christian CR candidates are not following, therefore becoming hypocrites to their faith, are listed below so that they may be reminded of them.


“If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her … and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid: Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel’s virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate: And the damsel’s father shall say … these are the tokens of my daughter’s virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. … But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, AND THE MEN OF HER CITY SHALL STONE HER WITH STONES THAT SHE DIE.” (Deuteronomy 22:13-21)


Jesus is criticized by the Pharisees for not washing his hands before eating.  He defends himself by attacking them for not killing disobedient children according to the commandment; “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ AND ANYONE WHO CURSES HIS FATHER OR MOTHER MUST BE PUT TO DEATH.. (Matthew 15: 3-4).


The “tradition” was when Moses said: “Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.” (Mark 7:10)


We can only wonder in what the bible God thinks of His creation that don’t follow ALL of this biblical doctrines. :(


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