Fake Polls and the Test of Character

A congressional candidate frantically relayed a message to me last Friday about a poll that was “sent to us as an FYI” but “was not a poll commissioned by our campaign.” The poll showed her leading the primary race.

Those caveats were enough of a red flag for anyone to question the poll’s veracity. But what her consultant emailed to me wasn’t a poll. There were no crosstabs. I had never heard of the pollster. Nobody could tell me who paid for it.