A new telephone poll asks New Haven voters how they feel about Toni Harp being a slumlord and Justin Elicker working for George W. Bush.
Who would say such mean things about both candidates?
Why … the Harp campaign.
The Harp campaign paid for the telephone poll, which has been reaching New Haven voters this week. The poll is testing “negatives” on both candidates, seeing how voters react to different accusations about Harp and Elicker.
It makes statements about the candidates, then asks voters if they’re more or less likely to vote for the candidate as a result.
Harp, a Democrat, and Elicker, the independent candidate, face each other in the Nov. 5 mayoral election.
Jason Bartlett, Harp’s campaign manager, called the phone survey, which has been conducted this week, a “benchmark poll,” not a “push” poll that tries to convince voters to believe negative stories about a candidate’s opponents.
A “benchmark poll” like this one asks questions about positives and negatives” to gauge candidate support, Bartlett said. Such polls traditionally help campaigns determine what issues to stress as well as what attacks need defending against.
Bartlett wouldn’t say which company he hired to conduct the poll or how many people it’s calling.
Among other questions, the poll asks people about allegations that Harp is a slumlord because her family’s property management business owns buildings where a variety of problems were found. (Click here for a story detailing the company’s record.)
The poll also asks people what they think about Elicker working for the second Bush administration as a foreign service officer — an unpopular association in a deep blue city like New Haven.
Asked about the poll, Harp said she doesn’t think it’s fair to connect Elicker to Bush, just as it’s not fair to call her a slumlord. Click the play arrow above to hear her comments.
“It’s on both candidates to measure what kinds of things people worry the most about that are negative in both … candidates’ background. I wouldn’t say it’s technically ‘push’ poll,” Harp said when asked Wednesday about the poll.
“I don’t think it’s fair to connect me to my family’s business or to call me a slum landlord when I don’t own property. In both cases [the poll is] asking whether people are going to believe those things and impact their voting. Would I say that he is a supporter of Bush because worked for the foreign service? Absolutely not.”
Harp said she didn’t know details about the poll, other than that it asks negative questions about both candidates.
Elicker claimed that connecting Harp to her family’s business, Renaissance Management, is fair, but connecting him to the Bush administration is not.
Harp is profiting from her family’s business, Elicker argued. According to a New Haven Register report, Harp’s late husband’s personal estate pays Harp a monthly statement of $9,491.41, which covers the expenses on her home in Westville. Toni Harp has repeatedly stated that she has had no connection to her late husband’s (and now son’s) real-estate company.
“Harp signs are on Renaissance Management properties around the city,” and Renaissance Management contributed $4,000 to the Harp campaign through its employees, Elicker said. It’s therefore “important to highlight” the connections between the business and Harp, Elicker maintained.
As for any connection between Bush and him, Elicker said, “I joined the State Department after 9/11. I was thinking about ways to serve my country and 9/11 made me realize we need a lot of help with international relations. There are 50,000 people working for the State Department. I didn’t agree with many of the policies of the Bush administration. The idea that a foreign services officer would just quit or come out publicly against the policies of the president is something that’s equivalent to expecting municipal employes to quit when they don’t agree with the mayor.”
Elicker said he worked as an economic officer in the foreign service in China for five years, writing reports about the Hong Kong economy.
Elicker said his campaign plans to conduct a poll of likely voters. “It’ll be, ‘Who are you supporting for mayor?’” he said.
Update: Click here for a story on Elicker’s poll, and its “city corruption” question.
Poll about the poll,
A)tacky
B)faded
C)desperate
D)all of the above
As for Elickers poll, again showing that he is all about the issues and not baby games. BRAVO ELICKER!