push poll

noun

1. a seemingly unbiased telephone survey that is actually conducted by supporters of a particular candidate and disseminates negative information about an opponent.

Word History and Origins

Origin of push poll¹

1990–95

Example Sentences

Then last week, residents began receiving a push poll gauging voter support for “a major new project” that would include “a new city with tens of thousands of new homes.”

Read more on Seattle Times

He allegedly came up with the infamous push poll used in South Carolina to undermine support for Sen. John McCain with outright racist innuendo: "Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain for president if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?"

Read more on Salon

The state-court judge in that case, Ruben Reyes, found that Brewer’s firm hired pollsters to conduct a “push poll” that provided misleading information to people involved in the case, possibly tainting the trial.

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"There was a push poll against John McCain that reportedly came from someone in the Bush camp that wondered if he had fathered an African-American child when he and his wife had adopted a baby from Bangladesh," explained the Post and Courier's Andy Shain.

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Bush denied any knowledge of the push poll and claimed that anyone determined to be involved with it would be kicked off his campaign.

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