On Taking Polls

Last night, I received a call from the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute to get my take on the political situation in New Jersey. It was the first time I had been asked to participate, and the call was not only random, but once Mrs. Lawhawk picked up the phone, the pollster asked to speak to the person in the house whose birthday was upcoming. That was me.

The kinds of questions were not much different than those asked in prior New Jersey polls. The last New Jersey poll was taken a month ago and it showed that sitting Governor Jon Corzine (D) was losing to GOP candidate Christopher Christie and Corzine had a slim lead over former Bogota mayor Steve Lonegan (R).

There were about 35-40 questions in all, and they covered the full range of political and economic issues facing the state. Anyone reading this blog for any length of time can probably surmise my responses to the political questions.

Here's a pretty complete list of questions asked as I recall them (and many of which mirror questions posed on prior polls):

If the election for Governor were being held today, and the candidates were Jon Corzine the Democrat and Christopher Christie the Republican, for whom would you vote?

If the election for Governor were being held today, and the candidates were Jon Corzine the Democrat and Steve Lonegan the Republican, for whom would you vote?

Is your opinion of -- Christopher Christie favorable, unfavorable or haven't you heard enough about him?

Is your opinion of -- Steve Lonegan favorable, unfavorable or haven't you heard enough about him?

Is your opinion of -- Jon Corzine favorable, unfavorable or haven't you heard enough about him?

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Jon Corzine is handling his job as Governor?

Do you approve or disapprove of the way the state legislature is handling its job?

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Frank Lautenberg is handling his job as United States Senator?

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Robert Menendez is handling his job as United States Senator?

Looking ahead to the 2009 election for Governor, do you feel that Jon Corzine deserves to be reelected, or do you feel that he does not deserve to be reelected?

Since Jon Corzine became Governor in January 2006, do you feel that things in New Jersey have gotten better, gotten worse, or stayed about the same?

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Jon Corzine is handling the economy?

During this national economic crisis do you think in New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine has helped make things better, made things worse, or made no difference?

Did you happen to know that Christopher Christie is the federal prosecutor responsible for putting more than a hundred New Jersey politicians out of office or in jail or weren't you aware of that?

Do you think being a federal prosecutor has given Christopher Christie enough experience to be governor of New Jersey?

Do I think the economic situation nationally has improved, declined, or stayed about the same?

Do I think that the economic situation in New Jersey has improved, declined, or stayed about the same.

There were a few demographics questions added to allow the pollsters to break down the polling data by age, region, economic, ethnic and religious backgrounds.

All in all, the polling took about 20 minutes, and the woman handling the polling was quite cheerful and professional.

I'll be looking out for the polling results when they get posted.