We still don't know who sponsored that automatic negative phone 'poll' to Bernalillo County Republicans Tuesday night that hit State Rep. Joe Thompson and Big Bill over Joe's' DWI arrest. Appropriately, I have been anonymously emailed the poll transcript and the results. But the information is not too useful without knowing who sponsored the survey and why. The e-mailing insider claims 1600 Republicans responded to the negative survey, which means thousands more were phoned but decided against responding.

The consensus opinion in the political community seems to be that the poll was, as one politico concluded, "Republican cannibalism." Thompson was clearly the target of the survey, as you will see, and Big Bill was thrown in for good measure. Thompson, said one R, "has made a lot of "enemies." and suspects the attack survey came from fellow Republicans. As I said when Joe was busted, he has played political hardball and there would not be much mercy from his opponents. That's one prediction with 100% accuracy. Here's the negative survey, the first Dirty Trick of New Mexico Campaign 04.'

"This is a brief survey about DWI and public accountability. This is not a sales call and we only want your opinion on three quick questions:

Background: Republican State Representative Joe Thompson was arrested at 2 a.m. on Central Avenue for Driving While Intoxicated. This was only one day after attending a Bill signing with Governor Richardson that toughened DWI penalties.

Question #1: Currently State Employees are fired when they receive a DWI. Should elected officials like State Representative Joe Thompson be held to a different standard and not be forced to resign their office?

Press 1 if you believe Representative Thompson should be held to a different standard for his DWI (Option 1).
Press 2 if you believe Thompson should be treated like all state employees and be forced from office (Option 2).

Question #2: Gov. Bill Richardson says he has a "zero-tolerance" policy when it comes to DWI, but Richardson says Thompson should be an exception to this rule.

Press 1 if you agree with Richardson that state lawmakers should get a second chance while state employees do not (Option 1).
Press 2 if you disagree with Governor Richardson and you believe that there should be consequences for DWI (Option 2).

Question #3: Now that you know that Rep. Thompson was arrested for a DWI after attending an anti-DWI bill signing ceremony, would you vote for Thompson for another office?

Press 1 if you would vote for Thompson in the future (Option 1)
Press 2 if it you would not vote for Thompson (Option 2).

As for the results, according to the e mail, they got the anti-Thompson-Bill results they were looking for. Over 80% selected option two for the first two questions. And, 75% would not vote for Thompson after taking the push poll. My experts estimated this attack survey could have gone into as many as 15,000 Republican households to get the 1600 responses. All you Democrats have got to be enjoying your seats in the spectator section, but I have a feeling it won't be long before you guys have your share of blood on the floor, so no gloating please.

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c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2004
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