Poll Buzz Is That Independents Aren't Answering Questions
Republican officials, skeptical of Bush's double-digit lead in some polls, report today that many GOP pollsters claim that the sought-after class of independent voters is not a large part of the latest polling. The reason, they claim, is that the independents still haven't made up their mind on who to vote for and are refusing to answer poll questions. "The independents aren't answering the calls," said one GOP official. "So the polls aren't capturing them." In fact, some GOP officials agree with Democrats that the race is a lot closer than many of the polls realize and are bracing for a huge poll shift when the independents finally decide who to vote for and reveal that to pollsters.
Republican Worry About Kerry GOTV Efforts.
Republicans today expressed concerns that the Bush-Cheney team hasn't matched the Kerry-Edwards get-out-the-vote efforts for the fall election. Citing reports of hundreds of thousands of Democrats comprising Kerry's GOTV team, a senior Republican official told US News Bulletin, "If that's true I hope we're as good, but I've heard nothing about our effort." GOP officials, however, said that the Republican National Committee has established precinct captains and special GOTV teams that are being regularly briefed on how to get voters to the polls. "We'll be ready when it counts," said a GOP official.
