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Rand Paul's (R) campaign team has polled Jack Conway's (D) "Aqua Buddha" TV, and it suggests that the Conway ad has backfired on the Democrat.
Per the Paul poll that First Read obtained, more than 80% of Kentucky voters said they have heard of the Conway ad, which says that Paul belonged to a secret society while in college that called the Bible a "hoax," and that he allegedly tied up a woman and made her bow down to the god "Aqua Buddha."
Nearly 70% said the ad went too far, versus 31% who said it raised valid questions.
And get this: 45% of Kentucky voters (including 70% of Republicans, 53% of independents, and nearly 25% of Democrats) said the ad would make them more likely to vote for Paul. That's compared with 26% (40% of Democrats, 19% of independents, and 9% of Republicans) who said it made them less likely to vote for him.
The poll was conducted Oct. 21 of 1,200 Kentucky voters.
*** UPDATE *** The Conway camp is furiously pushing back against the poll, alleging that it was conducted at a Paul tele-town hall, which would make the poll suspect. In fact, the Conway camp played -- over the phone -- audio of that tele-town hall, in which a questioner asks about being "outraged" by the Aqua Buddha ad.
But the GOP source who emailed First Read the poll maintains that the survey in question wasn't part of the tele-town hall. "The poll is in no way associated with the tele-town hall last night." More from the source: "I can't believe their spin was that we leaked a tele-town hall poll. That's hilarious." And the source sends this poll's information:
Statewide telephone survey conducted October 21, 2010 - sample 1200 Telephone survey conducted Oct. 21, 2010 - Margin of error +/- 2.95 percentage points.
Pollster: Fritz Wenzel
*** UPDATE II *** Conway spokesman John Collins responds: "This poll is as laughable as Paul's tirade over whether he should answer questions about his own actions. Instead of making up data, Paul should try something he's never done - face the voters and answer questions."
Leave a Comment:
Hey!!!
Where did 'The Week Ahead' go?
I see you caught the date error there Mark! I know you guys are putting in some serious OT!
Thanks!
Feisty, the GOP stole IT, just like everything else.
The Answer you seek is in the Thread headline:
G O P POLL!
nuff said
Caught a report that Paul had another meltdown..If he can not control himself now --what would hebe able to control as a senator?? He seems to skirt oversight at every corner --not even joining the professional org that oversees his supposed advanced degree..It is not an MD but a what?
Not ready for prime time --just like his buddies angle- bachmann, mcdonnell!
Poll conducted Oct 31st?
I am sorry but this ad was not the worst-theirs the ad that compares obama to the angel of death in the nazi camps or the ads that totally rip on Pelosi and reed these are much worse.If any sane independent or any dems are going to vote for rand paul then they are nuts to begin with.This guy wants do away with min wager,soc security,civil rights,womans rights all sorts of things. If people were crazy enough to want to elect this nutcase like sharon engle and christine odonnel into office then they dont care about the poor or middleclass or just get their news from fox news.
I know right. Marshall and Brite keep ripping on Pelosi. That is just wrong. And that dog gone Manchin guy, actually shooting the cap and trade bill with a big scary gun. Those damn wing nuts always resorting to guns to prove that they are bad ass.
And I'm sure good old Harry Reid can at least see the poor folk from the Ritz Carlton. So, Tanya are all repulicans INSANE?
It's hard to score points by attacking someone's college days because we all did something stupid if you had any life at all. Heck, I was a registered Libertarian for a while during my college days (the only time I've registered for a party); luckily, I sobered up and moved way to the left. Lord knows I did my share of praying to the great Aqua Buddha, although I never forced anyone else to. This ad was bound to backfire.
Is Aqua Buddha related to the Porcelain God at all? Surely they are buddies?
Yeah, in all honesty.. anyone's college days should get a free pass. Everyone learns a LOT about themselves during those years and in doing so they usually check out all the wacky stuff to see what fits them.
Now, if the Aqua God thing happened AFTER his college years... well that's fair game.
The the attempt to elevate this juvenile incident from Rand Paul's college years into major issue in an important U.S. Senate election campaign suggests that Jack Conway's campaign strategists are either desperate...or incompetent.
This was never going to end well for the Conway campaign.
And exactly what did you expect the GOP poll to conclude?
The poll was conducted Oct. 31 of 1,200 Kentucky voters. How is that if today's date is Oct/22/2010 are you kidding me? Paul got issues end qoute.
Clearly it was a typo that has since been corrected!
Sheesh! It's Friday night... can't every one take a deep breath & lighten up for a change?
I'm neither a republican or democrat...just a middle of the road guy. I think the Aqua Buddha story is hilarious and that candidate was an idiot for trotting it out in the media! And yeah, I agree that college years need a free pass for all the obvious reasons.
But hey, Reid & Pelosi are idiots. They pretend to beat the drum for common man while they enjoy their cushy lives in their ivory towers, far removed from all the daily concerns, hardships and drudge us regular folks have to deal with due to their "oh so riteous" decision making. Please, we need some intelligent reasonable people in government...not all these self-serving, carpet bagging politicians!
Ok.
Then-as just a middle of the road guy-it would be safe for as all to assume you simply "forgot" to mention any of the shameless antics of theses "Republican" idiots-like Boehner, McConnell, DeMint etc.-for their appalling behavior these past "20 plus" months?
By that I mean all this ridiculously "partisan" GOP obstructionist crap and over the top fear-mongering or "WTF!" moments which go directly in the opposite direction of what's in the best "long term" interest of all us "American" citizens-such as the GOP lining up and unanimously voting "against" a Bill requiring (thanks to quite possibly the "stupidest" U.S. Supreme Court "activist judge" decision in the history of this country) "full disclosure" to the "American" voter the name of "who or what" personal, ideological or corporate entities are now able to dump "limitless" amounts of cash into our political system whether it be for a Democrat "or" Republican.
Giving you the benefit of the doubt here, fair enough...So, on that note, any suggestions who you'd like to see replace "all" these self-serving, carpet bagging politicians?
Cheers
The interesting thing is how Paul reacted to this ad.
Instead of saying, "Yeah, I did some dumb stuff in college like most people" he reacts by throwing a tantrum during the debate and then seals the deal by not shaking Conway's hand! Later the next day he says he most likely wouldn't debate again, then changes his mind because it made him look very small.
Do we really need someone this unstable representing the people of Kentucky?
C'mon, this guy is a real weasel. Definitely not the Real Deal.
Two words:
Epic Fail
A "GOP" Poll...
That makes about as much sense as someone saying "I saw it on Fox so it must be true."
Think...Then VOTE!
Cheers
you know, its hard to belive that the country is all upset with the dems. I mean , I watched JEB bush saying "its not our fault " spin . when his brother started the bail outs of the banks. bailed out feddie mae , and mac. started 2 wars not funded or paid for. the GOP while they were in control of both houses, spent more money, and grew the goverment , faster than the dems that are in power now. so does that tell u any thing ? oh wait I know, have a woman that is brainless . like cristine "im not a witch" odonnell. or tea party poeple who dont know any thing about running the goverment. nuff said
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/aqua-buddha-gayle-etcheverry.html
Nuff said!
rand paul quote; "When tax money flows to the nation’s capitol, half stays there, half is wasted and half of it goes to political cronyism." -- Rand Paul
A math genius!
Aqua Buddha did NOT backfire... it was a fair game questioning of Rand Paul's judgment. Taken with recent remarks about civil rights, and all the other Tea Party hypocrisy, TOGETHER it paints a portrait of a man with a famous political father, who, exactly like George Dubya Bush, was a fool, and for the most part, still is a complete fool.
Who unfortunately, like every Tea Partier and GOP, knows exactly where the BIG FOREIGN FASCIST money is.
It was a college frat prank and has nothing to do with Rand Paul's current views, goals and beliefs. If you think that there isn't something stupid or embarassing in the past of any person on the face of this planet, you better think again.
The next thing you know, politicians will be chastizing each other for peeing in the bed when they were 5.
It wouldn't be surprising if they started comparing peanut sizes and bedroom stamina. All's fair during election fever.
I guess the Democrats can't debate policy, so they come up with these foolish personal attacks. As an Independent I'm not a fan of either party, so this election I'm voting against Democrats, and if the Republicans spend and grow government like they did the last time they had a majority, I guess...I'll pray for the Independents to come up with viable choices.
Unfortunately as long as all politicians are bought and payed for, its hard for a candidate that wants to vote in term limits, and stop any campaign funding other than a general public fund from ever getting a fair shake.
Now that IS FUNNY!!!!!!
Muslim, No Obama is a Christian
Birthers? It would not matter is Obama was born on Mars, He would still be American, His Mother is from Kansas
Communist? It is a very simple fact, 99% of Republicans ARE Communist and live in Republics, Republic of China, Republic of Cuba, etc
I could go on and on and on about the BS the GOP has spewed
Check facts, Not Farts
LOL, how did you get all of that from tboregon? 99%? Really? You just didn't have a brain fart did you?
are you kidding me you are not a fan of either party, but you will vote Republican, when the hell has the Republicans been fiscal responsible, all they care about is big business, they don't give a $$$$ about the poor or the middle class, good luck with seeing prosperity under the Republicans, some people just continue to vote against their best interest, as your pocket book shrinks smaller and smaller giving to these rich fat cats, first of all they plan on keeping the Bush tax cuts, privitizing social security and many others, just where do you fit into their plans? families are struggling every day to make ends meet, and you want to put these fools back into control, make God help us all, because the chickens are coming home to roost!!!!
Best. Punctuation. Ever.
As a political scientist with campaign experience I feel compelled to say that Conway’s AB ad was a huge risk. While most campaigns engage in negative advertising (attack ads), this ad would have never made past the discussion stage in any campaign in which I was involved. Additionally, usually negative ads are pulled in favor of all positive and/or compare and contrast ads in the final week or two of a campaign. The only time we continued negative ads was when we were clearly behind and it appeared unlikely we could decrease our own candidate’s negatives. Our objective was to continue pressure on our opponent’s negatives. Even then we also ran positive ads. It is usually important to give the electorate not just a reason to vote against your opponent but a motivation to vote for your candidate. I think Jack Conway took a tremendous gamble in an attempt to narrow the race and desperation clouded his judgment. I suspect this ad will probably cost him the race as few undecided voters will now break his way.
Hmmmmmm,,,,,I have quite a few gray hairs and I can honestly say I have never seen a "positive" campaign ad about someones opponent, Does political scientist translate into "I read a newspaper once"
I thought aqua buddas were marijuana bongs...at least that's one of the terms for one. Has nothing to do w/ religion except if you worship weed!
GOP poll,,,,,,,,,,,,Nuf said, LOL
As much as I enjoy the the FR blog (and lively commentary), when I read posts that quote blatantly partisan polling results - from either side - it just feeds my cynicism about the major media outlets. Their only interest is to keep this a contest all the way to the end, and then move on to the next event in the news cycle. In this case, some balance against the Paul poll, or at least some sort of explanation of why that type of polling approach is suspect, would have been nice.
I like how when Bill Clinton came to Kentucky Rand Paul blasted him for having no credibility for his past actions...fast forward two weeks...now Rand cannot believe that Conway stooped low enough to attack somebodies past actions. If it's wrong it's wrong, but like all polititions, if it hurts me it's wrong if it helps me it's right. I also read an article a few days after this story broke quoting Paul stating that he had been in touch with all the "alleged" co conspiritors in this accusation and they could not remember this ever happening. No really, I imagine that was the first call made, to make sure that nobody "remembered" this incident, wink wink.
I think it is time to stick to the issues, oh wait, that would mean that Paul would have to offer solutions and not talking points, nevermind. Conway HAS presented a budget for Kentucky while Paul has stuck to the bs that he has 3 or 4 options that he will reveal as soon as he is elected...
Now,with a second military person coming forward to confirm that Clinton lost the launch codes,do you think he was a good President? Conway may have perverted the course of justice by enquiring about the investigation into his brother's alledged drug dealing.I don't think either of them are any good.
I didn't care for the ad either and think the trash ads should be left to the Tea Party. I'd like to think the Liberals are a bit above such squalor. However, the ad did give correct accounts and it didn't offend me as much as ads do that are outright lies.
This may have been a college prank but nonetheless this is not the first campaign that loves to drudge up old dirt from days gone bye. Obama went to school in Kenya when he was 6 years old for two years but we certainly got to hear about that one enough. A college age man has options. A 6 year old does not.
What a minute! Where is that DNC poll that says it had a good effect. GOP poll? Come on MSNBC!!!