History Main / PushPolling

* ''Websites/{{Stormfront}}'' [[thoseWackyNazis user]] hijacked several polls about segregated pools by vitong ''en masse'' ''in favor'' of such proms.

* Google Docs offered a survey which was surprisingly long, and the bulk of the questions were asking if the user was aware of such-and-such feature. It seemed it was at least as much about making the surveyed users aware of those features than it was about gauging how many people were using them, which could presumably be accomplished without a survey since Google Docs runs on Google's own servers.

* Google Docs offered a survey which was surprisingly long, and the bulk of the questions were asking if the user was aware of such-and-such feature. It seemed it was at least as much about making the surveyed users aware of those features than it was about gauging how many people were using them, which could presumably be accomplished rather easily without a survey since Google Docs runs on Google's own servers.

* One ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'' strip had a reporter at a George W. Bush museum interacting with an exhibit designed to show why Dubya wasn't the [[WorstWhateverEver Worst President Ever]]. The questions went [Allow Saddam to [[InsaneTrollLogic somehow use WMD's he didn't have to take over the world]]] or [Invade Iraq again].

** Adam Carolla of ''TheManShow'' was able to convince over a thousand women to sign a petition to ''end women's suffrage'', though this might be more related to ViewersAreMorons.
* A ''{{Peanuts}}'' special ("You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown") had Lucy taking an opinion poll to see if Linus could win the school election. Naturally, she intimidated everyone into saying they would vote for him and she thus concluded that he had a good chance.
* One infamous push poll was created by Karl Rove while working to get George W. Bush nominated for president over John [=McCain=]. "Would you be more likely or less likely to vote for John [=McCain=] for president if you knew he had fathered an [[UnfortunateImplications illegitimate black child]]?" It doesn't matter because he didn't, but they didn't technically accuse him of doing so.
* Parodied by StephenColbert: <insert person>, Great <relative position> or Greatest <relative position>? (George Bush, Great President or Greatest President?)

* One ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}} strip had a reporter at a George W. Bush museum interacting with an exhibit designed to show why {{Dubya}} wasn't the [[WorstWhateverEver Worst President Ever]]. The questions went [Allow Saddam to [[InsaneTrollLogic somehow use WMD's he didn't have to take over the world]]] or [Invade Iraq again].

Another is polling people when you already know how they will answer, that is, only polling people who might already have the opinion you want. For example, polling only rich people about whether the gas prices are excessive.

[[quoteright:330:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/whatdoyouthink_edited_1282.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:330:Courtesy of [[http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Make-Sure-That-You.aspx The Daily WTF]]]]

* One ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}} strip had a reporter at a George W. Bush museum interacting with an exhibit designed to show why {{Dubya}} wasn't the Worst President Ever. The questions went [Allow Saddam to [[InsaneTrollLogic somehow use WMD's he didn't have to take over the world]]] or [Invade Iraq again].

* One ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}} strip had a reporter at a George W. Bush museum interacting with an exhibit designed to show why Dubya wasn't the Worst President Ever. The questions went [Allow Saddam to [[InsaneTrollLogic somehow use WMD's he didn't have to take over the world]]] or [Invade Iraq again].

* One ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}} strip had a reporter at a George W. Bush museum interacting with an exhibit designed to show why Dubya wasn't the Worst President Ever. The questions went [Allow Saddam to [[LogicalFalliacy somehow use WMD's he didn't have to take over the world]]] or [Invade Iraq again].

* One ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}} strip had a reporter at a George W. Bush museum interacting with an exhibit designed to show why Dubya wasn't the Worst President Ever. The questions went [Allow something bad to happen resulting in the ruination of America] or [Do the incredibly stupid thing Bush did.]

* This was essentially how the famous "Dewey Defeats Truman" newspaper headline came to be, though it was unintentional. The newspaper conducted a phone poll to determine who people would be voting for. Unfortunately, large swaths of the country could not afford regular phone service in the wake of the Great Depression and WWII; only wealthy families had the luxury to pay monthly phone bills. So, while those individuals likely did vote for Dewey, the lower- and middle-classes majorly voted for Truman.

* This was essentially how the famous "Dewey Defeats Truman" newspaper headline came to be, though it was unintentional. The newspaper conducted a phone poll to determine who people would be voting for. Unfortunately, phones were a new invention at the time; and only wealthy families had telephones installed in their homes. So, while those individuals likely did vote for Dewey, the lower- and middle-classes majorly voted for Truman.

* Demonstrated on ''PennAndTellerBullshit'' in an episode about statistics. One guest shows how polls are slanted to get a certain answer by asking questions of the same person and getting conflicted answers.

* Played with in ''CodeGeass'', where it was done by accident and then used as an example of the trope in order to further political gain. [[spoiler: When Euphie gets a large quantity of Japanese in one place in order to enact a zone in Japan where they can actually be Japanese, [=Lelouch=] accidentally mind-controls her into going on a killing spree, and then later says that she was leading the Japanese into a trap]]

* Demonstrated on ''PennAndTellerBullshit'' in an episode about statistics. One guest shows how polls are slanted to get a certain answer by asking questions of the same person and getting conflicted answers.

* Kelso tricks Elliot this way in ''{{Scrubs}}''.

* [[CalvinAndHobbes Calvin]] likes to confront his dad with polls of the 6-year-old and tiger populations of the house. While these invariably show a landslide of popular opinion, his father inexplicably remains unmoved.
* Happens all the time on ThatOtherWiki. Many people seem to think they can change the (nebulous) rules and force all other editors to do what they say, simply by holding a small biased poll on the matter. One of the more famous ones was a policy proposal to ''outlaw sarcasm''.

* One episode of ''YesPrimeMinister'' had Sir Humphrey demonstrate how this works by asking Bernard two separate series of questions, one leading to the obvious conclusion that compulsory military service would be a good thing and the other leading to the obvious conclusion that compulsory military service would be a bad thing.

* Demonstrated on ''PennAndTeller:Bullshit'' in an episode about statistics. One guest shows how polls are slanted to get a certain answer by asking questions of the same person and getting conflicted answers.

* Demonstrated on ''PennAndTeller:Bullshit!'' in an episode about statistics. One guest shows how polls are slanted to get a certain answer by asking questions of the same person and getting conflicted answers.

* Demonstrated on Penn&Teller:Bullshit! in an episode about statistics. One guest shows how polls are slanted to get a certain answer by asking questions of the same person and getting conflicted answers.

* Demonstrated on Penn&Teller:Bullshit! in an episode about statistics. One guest shows how polls are slanted to get a certain answer by asking questions of the same person and getting conflicted answers.
-->''Does the federal government spend too much or too little on social programs for illegal immigrants in this country?''
-->''Too much.''
-->''Would you deny emergency room care to an illegal immigrant? Would you deny the children of illegal immigrants the ability to attend a public school?''
-->''No.''

* On ''ParksAndRecreation'', Leslie tried to get public support for building a park, by presenting the question to the public as "Wouldn't you rather have a park [[FalseDichotomy than a storage facility for nuclear waste]]?"

* On ''ParksAndRecreation'', Leslie tried to get public support for building a park, by presenting the question to the public as "Wouldn't you rather have a park than a storage facility for nuclear waste?"

* A rumored RealLife example that led to the break-up of the Soviet Union. The politicians interested in splitting the Union polled the general public with the question "Do you want to be independent?" Obviously, nobody is going to answer "no". They used the answer to justify the break-up.

* Partial subversion in ''CodeGeass'', where it was done by accident and then used as an example of the trope in order to further political gain. [[spoiler: When Euphie gets a large quantity of Japanese in one place in order to enact a zone in Japan where they can actually be Japanese, [=Lelouch=] accidentally mind-controls her into going on a killing spree, and then later says that she was leading the Japanese into a trap]]

* Happens all the time on ThatOtherWiki. Many people seem to think they can change the (nebulous) rules and force all other editors to do what they say, simply by holding a small biased poll on the matter. One of the more famous ones was a policy proposal to ''[[WallBanger outlaw sarcasm]]''.

* When Kay Hagan was running against Elizabeth Dole for a North Carolina U.S. Senate seat, ThisTroper received a call from a company which was taking a poll. One of the questions, "Would it affect your vote to know that Kay Hagan is [[AcceptableTarget associating with and taking money from atheists]]?" This question and some others like it soon made it clear that the "polling company" was not legitimate, but was only asking questions to raise doubts about Hagan. Dole's campaign also ran a TV ad implying that Hagan, who was a former Sunday school teacher, was an atheist. By the way, [[ViewersAreGeniuses Dole lost the election]].

* Happens all the time on ThatOtherWiki. Many people seem to think they can change the (nebulous) rules and force all other editors to do what they say, simply by holding a small biased poll on the matter. One of the more famous ones was a policy proposal to ''[[WallBanger outlaw sarcasm]]''.