EXCLUSIVE (Pt 5): Candid Emails Reveal Depths of 1804 Repeal Conspiracy; The Poll They Didn’t Want You to See
Below are quotes from a Washington D.C. polling firm’s “briefing memorandum” to Chesapeake Energy on the dim prospects of repealing or revising HB1804.
“Immigration is a top issue: Ranked third in an overall list of most important issues to voters”
“Messages with an emotional appeal are strong among women, Democrats, more liberal ideology and voters under the age of 55 years. Those who attend church regularly show a higher propensity to be impacted by emotional pieces of information about their fellow man”
“This indicates that with generic messaging about the impacts of this immigration legislation, voters easily become divided in their support and less certain about their positioning.”
“While messages that create opposition to the legislation overall are limited, they each have a very common theme of conveying an emotional appeal.”
Click here to read the entire memo.
According to its critics, House Bill 1804, the immigration reform bill, was the law passed in the 2007 legislative session that Oklahomans liked only because they didn’t know about the consequences. The law’s opponents, such as the chambers of commerce in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, the so-called ‘state’ chamber of commerce and their bosses in business and industry, would roll out a multi-million dollar campaign to ‘educate’ the ignorant ‘Okies’ and bring balance back to the galaxy.
Wrong.
Today, the Oklahoma Political News Service reveals why the cocky arrogance of blustering poseurs like Chesapeake’s Tom Price and Senator Harry Coates was all hot air from the very beginning.
By late January, the 1804 repeal crowd knew full well the extent of their impossible mission, but the smack talk kept flowing. Chatter about a multi-million dollar repeal effort filled the halls at 23rd and Lincoln. The pompous Price, who some naïve observers at one time believed to be a political expert, in actuality ran a comedic legislative campaign that blew up in his face when his equally arrogant senate partner, Coates, left his war plans in a capitol bathroom. Those plans, sent to OKPNS by an anonymous good citizen, revealed a blundering, fumbling and ill-conceived effort masterminded by the most inept gaggle of political ‘consultants’ assembled in recent memory.
Today the 1804 repeal effort is as dead as Julius Caesar because the people of Oklahoma made up their own minds about HB 1804.
Revealed here is the truth the now-discredited political poseurs so desperately tried to hide. After the polling company asked 11 different questions specifically designed to push down public support for HB 1804, public approval barely wavered, dropping only 4% from 89% to 85%, still within the poll’s margin of error. Doubtless, Price and Coates were stunned. For the elitist duo and their followers, the game was over.
Two items stand out among the poll’s results. First, when push-poll questions dealt with perceived problems for the business community, support for the law actually went up, once again proving the point that the state’s business leadership, perceived as weak and ineffective, really is weak and ineffective.
Second, with only one exception (increasing taxes to help provide funds to support the law), the only times the push polling questions seem to lower public support is when touchy-feely emotional arguments regarding children and religion are asked. Perhaps that explains some of the ‘drama queen’ behavior of the law’s opponents over the past few weeks.
So turn out the lights: the party’s over. For those students of politics who love to drill deep into statistics, here are the reasons why people power overwhelmed so-called political power in regards to HB 1804. Click here to view entire poll results
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