Clinton tied to push-polling effort in California

Despicable, but not surprising.  The Los Angeles Times had this today:

Ed Coghlan was juststarting to prepare his dinner in the northern San Fernando Valley theother night when the phone rang. The caller was very friendly. Heidentified himself as a pollster who wanted to ask registeredindependents like Coghlan a few questions about the presidential raceand all the candidates for Super Tuesday's California primary.

Ed, who's a former news director for a local TV station, was curious. He said, "Sure, go ahead."

But a few minutes into the conversation Ed says he noticed a strangepattern developing to the questions. First of all, the "pollster" wasonly asking about four candidates, three Democrats -- Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards, who was still in the race at the time -- and one Republican -- John McCain.

Also, every question about Clinton was curiously positive, Coghlanrecalls. The caller said things like, if you knew that Sen. Clintonbelieved the country had a serious home mortgage problem and had madeproposals to....

freeze mortgage rates and save families from foreclosure, would you be more likely or less likely to vote for her?

Ed said, of course, more likely.

Every question about the other candidates was negative. If Ed knew,for instance, that as a state senator Obama had voted "present" 43times instead of taking a yes or no stand "for what he believed," wouldEd be more or less likely to vote for him?

"That's when I caught on," said Coghlan. He realized then that hewas being push-polled. That malicious political virus that is designednot to elicit answers but to spread positive information about onecandidate and negative information about all others under the guise ofan honest poll had arrived in Southern California within days of theimportant election.

It could become an issue in the closing hours of the campaign.

Someone who obviously favors Hillary Clinton is paying anunidentified company to spread this material phone call by phone callamong independent voters, who can, according to California party rules,opt to vote in the Democratic but not the Republican primary on Feb. 5,when nearly two dozen states will choose a large chunk of the delegatesto the parties' national conventions next summer.

Coghlan said he was offended by such underhanded tactics and knew hewas going to get out a warning about this dirty trick, but he said heplayed along for the full 20-minute "poll."

This comes as a new poll released today puts Obama ahead in California.  If Obama takes California, the media wave that will ensue might be too strong for the Clinton family to stop.