Recent push polls run by Houston-based Promark Research against Democratic Rep. Bernie Buescher are not the company’s first foray into Colorado politics. Back in 2004, Promark Reasearch was employed to sling the mud against Democrat Gwen Green of Golden.
In the July 30, 2004 Denver Post, columnist Diana Carman shined light on the “research” Promark was supposedly conducting:
Scott Helker, a financial planner and registered Republican, was working in his home office last week when he got a call from someone doing a survey. He answered the questions, which seemed aimed at measuring attitudes in the state House District 23 race between incumbent Republican Ramey Johnson and Democrat Gwen Green. And then the caller asked, “Do you know Gwen Green makes anti-Catholic statements?”
Helker was stunned. “I happen to know Gwen,” Helker said. So he asked the caller what those anti-Catholic statements were. “They never replied.”
Even more ironic, Green is quoted by Carmen saying she’s been “an active Catholic all my life.”
Carmen followed up on August 8th, 2004, reveling in her column that the Promark Research push poll accusing Gwen Green of making “anti-Catholic” statements was bought and paid for by the House Majority Fund, LLC — a Republican group.
While in some places, Promark’s spokespeople have embraced their role in the push polls, Carmen quotes Russ Parker, Promark’s executive vice president, claiming “We’re not involved in designing the survey or analyzing the data”.
It’s hard to imagine how scientific a poll could really be if the research firm conducting it does not help design or analyze the survey.
Green went on to win her 2004 race for House District 23 by only 41 votes, and is being heavily targeted by the Republicans this election cycle. Already, reports of push polls against Green are surfacing as she seeks re-election.
