Anyone who closely followed the poll farce of the 2008 Alaska elections knows that Progressive Alaska has been hard on supporters of Democratic Party candidates on this issue.For instance, when local "pollster" Ivan Moore took it upon himself to sign a contract to represent several local media to our voters as unbiased, while maintaining a 24-7 fundraising page for one of the candidates, I got him to quietly end the unethical relationship.
His fundraising wasn't making Moore any money. He responded, and his polls gained far more stature from that time forward, if not more accuracy.
I'm now raising similar questions to Anchorage shock radio denizen, Dan Fagan. He's started the Alaska Standard, with some friends. It has gotten off to a great start, attempting to fill the void true conservatives and tweaking wingnuts and a lot of Republicans in between felt the Voice of the Times never came close to filling or - fulfilling. It's a huge space to fill, and Dan seems to be wanting to fill that void. So far, I'm impressed. I'll give the big guy a big chance to fulfill as well as he fills.
I sent him this today:
Dear Editor,
In The Alaska Standard you have published a poll, comparing Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Lisa Murkowski. In the undated article accompanying the poll, the Standard states:
"According to a poll commissioned by The Alaska Standard and conducted by Dittman Research, Governor Sarah Palin is no longer Alaska's most popular politician."
Could you describe how the poll was financed? Other than revenues from normal operation of the Alaska Standard, or from funds provided by the editor or staff, was there any financial help on the poll? Could you detail this?
Regards,
Phil Munger
Progressive Alaska