Here is the rest of the poll that WE here at the Watchdog site commissioned with the help of an anonymous donor. Some have questioned if that donor was Vance Wilkins. Some have thrown out wild and sometimes insulting conspiracy theories. None of that nonsense is true. We will not release the name of the donor. Don’t ask. Gripe away but you’ll be wasting your time. We will say that it was NOT Vance Wilkins.
We find it amusing that for months EVERY poll ever done by anyone is “called into question” We had complaints from people screaming “when will someone do a professional poll?” and when we have one done, we get a bunch of whining little girls calling this poll into question. MAKE UP YOUR MIND!
Pulse Opinion Research is a reputable polling company. Some people think that this is great for Hurt…Is it? There is almost 1/2 of the voters polled were undecided and could break for one of the other candidates. 2/3 of the voters polled were not supporting Hurt. Make of it what you will. This race remains a close one because of 3 candidates that REFUSE to drop out despite less than stellar performance throughout this process.
| Total | Gender | Age | |||||||
| LV’s | Male | Female | 18-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50-64 | 65+ | ||
| Vote for Congress in VA5 | McKelvey | 8% | 9% | 7% | 28% | 11% | 6% | 7% | 6% |
| McPadden | 5% | 7% | 2% | 10% | 0% | 2% | 6% | 5% | |
| Hurt | 25% | 26% | 25% | 7% | 20% | 23% | 28% | 30% | |
| Boyd | 7% | 6% | 7% | 7% | 4% | 5% | 9% | 6% | |
| Morton | 4% | 4% | 4% | 0% | 7% | 10% | 1% | 3% | |
| Ferrin | 2% | 3% | 0% | 0% | 4% | 1% | 2% | 2% | |
| Verga | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 3% | 0% | 2% | |
| Not sure | 48% | 44% | 53% | 48% | 55% | 51% | 47% | 46% | |
The site is not wide enough to show you all the data so you can Download the Poll Here
Also here are the straw poll results from the debate at LU
Mark – The bright side to this “backseat driving” is that it is a sign of enthusiasm for the hope that is the tea party, as frustrating as it may be to those of you actually doing the driving. There are probably quite a few folks that are supportive of the movement, but haven’t been able to participate for one reason or another.
It appears our best hope is that the tea partiers and their sympathizers will get out the vote on June 8th.
As an active member of a 5th district TP, if the TP’s “unofficially” get behind Hurt, assuming he WILL win the nomination, I’m done–with the TP. For a group to claim principles, then to see the leaders of that group who are claiming those principles support a candidate that does NOT represent TP principles, that’s hypocritical. I’m an independent voter, sick to death of the GOP and Democrat party, and I refuse to get behind one just because “we gotta get Perriello out!!!!”
Like Will, if Hurt wins the nomination, I’m firmly behind Clark. Bring on June and November.
Red Herring, you are NOT alone in your sentiments. We have come a long way with the Tea Party in VA5, and we can’t stop now. This congressional contest is NOT the war, it is a single battle. There have been multiple battles fought along the way, and the Tea Party, it’s allies, and supporters can claim victory. But, we must keep the larger picture in mind, and that is that we have a Republic to save. I don’t know for sure what the political landscape is going to look like in the AM of June 9th. I suspect it will be Bobby Hurt vs Li’l Tommy Pelosi-ello vs Jeff Clarke. If the wild-card is dealt we may see Virgil Goode in the mix. So, with all that said, get out and work for your candidate. I know you are a McP supporter, and if McK pulls it off you will proudly switch your Mc button, and vice versa for me too.
Then, depending on what comes about on June 9th we make our decisions. I want Pelosi-ello tossed. I don’t feel like we can wait two more years. It may be too late since Li’l Tommy loovvveeesss Obama, and will do anything to help him destroy this county.
I know it would be much easier for us to support someone we feel we can trust to beat Pelosi-ello, but we may not have that luxury. If we get Bobby-boy it might be up to us to work our butts off, and be in his ear constantly, to not let up on him, or whoever gets elected for that matter.
Hard cold reality is that WE the American people ALLOWED this mess by NOT being fully engaged. This is a fact, and a fault WE have to take responsibility for. Now, it is our mess to clean up, and WE have to do whatever it takes to do that.
You claim you will walk away from the Tea Party, you will ONLY vote for and uphold your principles. I applaud you for your integrity. I have to ask you one question.
Where will you go?
I’ll find an organization that represents my values with integrity to put my support behind. Pragmatism be damned.
P.S. Working to put Hurt in office does not sound to me like cleaning up a mess. It sounds like creating a mess of a totally different kind, but I know the GOP hacks of this district can’t realize that. It’s become TOTALLY obvious that this 5th district race has been ALL about getting a Republican back in office. It’s ALL about just getting Perriello replaced. It’s obvious that it is ALL about making sure the GOP gets “their” seat back, regardless of who gets it.
I appreciate a conversation that is about who is the best candidate in the GOP race, but you lose me when you follow that with, “I know it would be much easier for us to support someone we feel we can trust to beat Pelosi-ello, but we may not have that luxury.” And as the chair of the Lynchburg TP, I’m having a hard time following your argument based on the principles you have posted on your TP website that I assume you adhere to. Just a few short months ago, the TP was about principles, now it’s about winning this seat back for whoever gets the GOP nomination. There is a HUGE difference between the two.
Even though I dislike straw polls (they have flawed sample groups), I am wondering why the Jefferson Area Tea Party straw poll has not been reported by this site.
Here is a link to the news story:
http://www.nbc29.com/global/story.asp?s=12558026
Notice the quote in the last paragraph. “The tea party held a straw poll Thursday; McPadden came in first, Hurt came in second, and in third place were voters who said they are still undecided.”
Maybe this can bring some people on this site back to reality.
We didn’t know anything about this. Thanks for the link.
RH, our principles have not changed. Those are our principles and each individual should learn to adhere to them. There is however a problem we do face, and it is the same problem it seems we always face that makes politics such a sickening ordeal.
I don’t know how old you are, but if you remember Ross Perot you would have an inkling of what we are dealing with.
Whether anyone agrees or not, I can attest that the Tea Party has absolutely NOT been about getting the establishment Republican elected. It has been about searching to get the person that we can trust to best represent those principles. There is disagreement on who that may be, the GOP has used that to their advantage, but I suppose you will blame that on the Tea Party leadership as well. Your wrath should be focused on just a few delusional fantasy-land dwellers that have diluted the vote much much than it should have been, but that is old news.
I don’t know of ANY Tea Party activist that is thrilled with the probability of a Hurt victory in the primary. No, not one. There are some Tea Party members in his home area that love him, but I don’t know any of them personally, I’ve just heard they are friends of Robert.
You claim you are following an argument. What argument? I have been quite clear as to what I see on the horizon. I’m not arguing anything. “I know it would be much easier for us to support someone we feel we can trust to beat Pelosi-ello, but we may not have that luxury.” This is a statement of fact, where is the argument in this statement?
Here are the options for November as I see them if Bobby gets the nomination (you get to choose only 1):
1. Stay home and not participate
2. Vote for Hurt (rather against Pelosi-ello)
3. Vote for Pelosi-ello to make a statement against the GOP
4. Vote for Jeff Clarke to maintain your principles (pragmatism be damned)
I am not arguing for, or against any of these things. You are absolutely a free agent in this. 3 of the 4 guarantee 2 more years of Pelosi-ello. Your choice. This is NOT an argument. I’m posting what I see as options. Can you identify any others?
I also said, “Hard cold reality is that WE the American people ALLOWED this mess by NOT being fully engaged. This is a fact, and a fault WE have to take responsibility for. Now, it is our mess to clean up, and WE have to do whatever it takes to do that.”
You said, “I’ll find an organization that represents my values with integrity to put my support behind. Pragmatism be damned.” Once you find that VERY small group, please let us know which group that is.
There is another principle that Ronald Reagan taught. “The man that shares 80% of my beliefs is NOT 20% my enemy.” I’m not stating this to convince you to vote for Robert Hurt, or anyone else. I’m just throwing it out there for you to consider. I have never met a single person who believes exactly as I do. If I did, I probably wouldn’t like him anyway. He would be a total a**hole.
Red, all of us are feeling the disgust with this in one way or another. I can’t and won’t tell you what to do. You have to do what you think is best for your conscience and your country. That is the hard part about living in freedom, sometimes we have to make some hard choices. Lately, it seems like none of them are good ones. Good luck, let us know how it turns out.
Bearing Drift endorsed Feda. Curious
Hi Kelley did you have a good weekend ? Bearing Drift’s endorsement of Feda is very strange.
Yep, Will, I think it is curious. Maybe she has “silent” support that we don’t know about.
Here’s a link to a sound segment from WCHV (joe thomas) on 5/28 in which each of the GoP contenders speaks a “parting shot” with his best message to the voters … if nothing else, it sure tells you about the personalities … at best, it says a lot about how they are capable of delivering in the November election and doing the job once they get to Congress .. Listen for yourself. It’s less than 10 minutes ..
http://67.72.16.166/wchv/2409193.mp3
Kelley I agree if she has any support it is very silent.
Wow, Bearing Drift. Really? You want to attach your horse to that wagon?
Here’s a question, (T or F): “is it the shots you take that count”, “or is it the shots that hit that count?” Some folks think the question is nonsense, being of the “ready-aim-fire” mentality. To them, of course, its the shots that hit that count. BUT others, many of them tuned to the realities of our modern world, are willing to admit that there is a “ready-fire-aim” mode of seeking truth, finding consensus, electing the best. (The simplest way to “see” the “ready-fire-aim” mode is to think of the fighter pilot who steers a continuous stream of “tracer shots” into the tail of his enemy’s plane. He fires first and then steers the stream of bullets to their target …)
Here in the VA-FIFTH, hung up by a money wasting primary where voter need to best Mr Tom may be drowned out by a continuing stream of info on the (similar) values and principles of potential November candidates, all the debate seems to be addressing moving targets that wobble across belief after belief and rarely dwell on specific capabilities that any the various GoP contenders will actually bring to the table in November and in Congress.
The Tea Party must contend with the fact that Tom Perriello is a likable gent, at least to some of our neighbors. However, while he may say he will support the voters, what he has done puts the lie to that. He has tasted the Pelosi cool-aid and is drunk on it. He votes the Democrat party-line, and so no progress, no reform, no positive change is possible with him. But unless he is beaten, there is no gain for Tea Party independents. And that is where the GoP primary and a “viable AND valuable” GoP candidate comes in.
Which one of the Seven is best able to win in November, AND most likely to bring real reforms to Congress? That AND is the problem. Sure Robert Hurt may win the primary, but will a man with family commitments be able to exert the influence in Congress that gents like McPadden, McKelvey or Boyd will do — each is mature, seasoned, and unhampered by family commitment. However, that AND is still a problem. There remains a very real worry, given the fact that neither Mike nor Jim has been blooded in an actual election, that neither of them will be able to beat the Pelosi-ello machine. Enter Ken Boyd. He hasn’t the big money, nor the early promise today of uptown political party support, (neither the strange allies that engenders either.) BUT, he has been elected, and elected in Pelosi-ello land, not in the land of the Tea Party faithful, AND his values are clearly Tea Party Perfect. But what is best, he also brings some powerful strengths to a seat in Congress — his IT analytical skills, his budget building experience, his negotiating ability to bring reasonable men to endorse the value of his views, his brains (which of the others earned two degrees AFTER raising a family?), and his knowledge of health care cost-management (which other contender came close (Liberty U Debate) to the same pragmatic real value of his proposal “give tax deductions for MD pro-bono health care, so Docs will pick up some HC charges as pro-bono gifts, just like lawyers deduct for their pro-bono work” as a way to cut health care costs? Which other contender has a track record of bringing real jobs into his elected district, as Ken has ?
Given the money that will follow the GoP Primary, it seems to me that Ken Boyd should not be seen as an alternative choice. He is the only choice for any voter who believes in talking from Tea Party principles AND in walking to Tea Party objectives — getting the election won by someone who can and will and has gotten the Tea Party job done.
The beauty of the notion above is that most of the others in the Virginia Fifth talent pool will be around to race again, far better seasoned by this Primary process than without it. Pick Ken in June and we not only get a winner in November, we get a “succession plan” for replacing him, once he has helped to rein in spending and reform the taxing monstrosity.
Yen2ken, interesting thoughts you’ve raised. Ken has come to visit the Lynchburg Tea Party a few times, and was very well received, but for some reason he has simply not gained much traction. I have not heard much said about him one way or the other.
OH NOOOOOOOO!!! The Perot factor… Did anyone ever stop to wonder – if more people HAD voted for Perot instead of choosing the 2 party way – would we be better off now? Would the 2 party system gone the way of the dinosaur? Instead of throwing up our hands in defeat – “Oh No! Now we have to choose b/t the lesser of the two evils again… booo” – How about working your butts off for a real representative, Like Jeff Clark! admitting defeat before the game even begins… Sometimes you have to lose a battle to win the war.
You haven’t heard much about Boyd? He won your last online poll.
Perhaps you need to get off the McKelvey bus from time to time.
I too have argued that Boyd’s likely the best candidate we could nominate.
OK folks, a week left.
Is anything going to happen between now and election day to shake things up? Endorsements? Drop-outs? Bomb-shells?
Any new polls coming out?
What about election day predictions? Do you have one? Order of finish? Percentages?
CJ, trying reading what is written.
Stephen, I’m not predicting any drop outs. Being the last week of the primary race I won’t be surprised if there are bombshells. I know there are some candidate bashing websites posted, and some negative robocalls going out. But, I’m not hearing too many new rumbles.
Campaigns are running their polls to determine ad strategy. We might hear rumors of these.