History Main / PushPolling

* There was a famous RealLife example to show how people will sign any petition if it's worded the right way. People were asked to sign a petition to ban the substance [[http://www.snopes.com/science/dhmo.asp dihydrogen monoxide]] - used in industry with almost no regulations, used by various kinds of criminals, capable of killing humans and other animals, able to corrode iron... Of course, anyone with a basic knowledge of chemistry should know what molecule has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.

* When Kay Hagan was running against Elizabeth Dole for a North Carolina U.S. Senate seat, potential voters received calls from a company which was taking a poll. One of the questions, "Would it affect your vote to know that Kay Hagan is [[AcceptableReligiousTargets 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, Dole lost the election.

* Happens all the time on Wiki/{{Wikipedia}}. 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 ''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].

* Back when Wrestling/WWERaw did fan polls, must of the options were so heavily pushed so as to not ruin stories. The best example, however, was when the audience was given the choice of three different match stipulations: Extreme Rules, Falls Count Anywhere, and No Disqualification.

* A ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' special ("WesternAnimation/YoureNotElectedCharlieBrown") 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.

* When Kay Hagan was running against Elizabeth Dole for a North Carolina U.S. Senate seat, potential voters received calls from a company which was taking a poll. One of the questions, "Would it affect your vote to know that Kay Hagan is [[AcceptableReligiousTargets 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]].
* 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.

One method is framing the questions to get the answers you want, typically [[LoadedWords with loaded questions]].

* There was a famous RealLife example to show how people will sign any petition if it's worded the right way. People were asked to sign a petition to ban the substance [[http://www.snopes.com/science/dhmo.asp dihydrogen monoxide]] - used in industry with almost no regulations, used by various kinds of criminals, capable of killing humans and other animals, able to corrode iron... Of course, anyone with a basic knowledge of chemistry should know what [[DontExplainTheJoke molecule has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom]].

* Back when Wrestling/WWERaw did fan polls, must of the options were so heavily pushed so as to not ruin stories. The best example, however, was when the audience was given the choice of three different match stipulations: Extreme Rules, Falls Count Anywhere, and No Disqualification.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* A ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' special ("WesternAnimation/YoureNotElectedCharlieBrown") 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.

* A ''ComicStrip/{{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.

* When Kay Hagan was running against Elizabeth Dole for a North Carolina U.S. Senate seat, potential voters received calls 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]].

* 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.
** A similar theory was put forward about the election of Donald Trump over Hilary Clinton. There are a number of factors as to while polling was off, but some of the biggest accusations were that the largest political party in the Unitied States is unaffiliated/unregistered/independent (depends on the state, but basically the group of people who are registered to vote, but do not identify with one party over another) AND that polls were taken at a national level, which, while right most of the time, is utterly meaningless (see some of the UsefulNotes sections on American politics as to why).

* One infamous push poll was created by Karl Rove while working to get UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush 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 illegitimate black child?" It doesn't matter because he didn't, but they didn't technically accuse him of doing so.

One method is framing the questions to get the answers you want, typically [[YouFailLogicForever with loaded questions]].

* Any Twitter poll that says "RT for yes, fave for no". Since only one of those options is a signal-boost, and people generally follow people whose opinions they share to some extent, you can bet more potential "yes" voters are going to see this than "no" voters.

* Happens all the time on {{Wikipedia}}. 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''.

* Parodied by Creator/StephenColbert: <insert person>, Great <relative position> or Greatest <relative position>? (George Bush, Great President or Greatest President?)

* Likewise with ''[=PiQ's=]'' (replacement for ''Newtype USA'') article regarding fans' opinions on their new format. The fact that it was called the "Cheese and Whine Party" pretty much guaranteed that anyone who didn't like it wasn't exactly going to get much sympathy.
* One episode of ''YesPrimeMinister'' had Sir Humphrey [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgyKpkLpccE 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.
* There was a famous RealLife example to show how people will sign any petition if it's worded the right way. People were asked to sign a petition to ban the substance [[http://www.snopes.com/science/dhmo.asp dihydrogen monoxide]] - used in industry with almost no regulations, used by various kinds of criminals, capable of killing humans and other animals, able to corrode iron... Of course, anyone with a basic knowledge of chemistry should know what [[DontExplainTheJoke molecule has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom]].
** Adam Carolla of ''Series/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 ''ComicStrip/{{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 UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush 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 illegitimate black child?" It doesn't matter because he didn't, but they didn't technically accuse him of doing so.
* Parodied by Creator/StephenColbert: <insert person>, Great <relative position> or Greatest <relative position>? (George Bush, Great President or Greatest President?)
* Moral philosophers do this on purpose, and it is amazing how they can completely change someone's answer to the most fundamental questions of life by changing only the way exactly the same question is phrased. Which is why education is important in the first place.
* When Kay Hagan was running against Elizabeth Dole for a North Carolina U.S. Senate seat, potential voters received calls 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]].
* Calvin of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' 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.

* 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.
* On ''Series/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]]?"
* Demonstrated on ''Series/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.
* 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.
* 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].

* Moral philosophers do this on purpose, and are always depressed that they can completely change someone's answer to the most fundamental questions of life by changing only the way exactly the same question is phrased.

* 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]]?"

* ''Website/{{Stormfront}}'' [[ThoseWackyNazis users]] hijacked several polls about segregated pools by voting ''en masse in favor'' of such proms.

* Calvin of ''CalvinAndHobbes'' 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.

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

Close, but not the same, is where you don't care about the answer, you just are using the questions themselves to sway people: the poll is propaganda or rumormongering masquerading as opinion polling. Example: "Do you believe we should retreat and let the enemy conquer the world? (Yes/No)".

* One infamous push poll was created by Karl Rove while working to get UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush 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.

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