Ruben's Not-So-Anonymous Survey Draws Criticism From Some Voters

By Ann Marimow and Nancy Trejos
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, June 22, 2006

Maryland's election law does not require pollsters to disclose the names of candidates who sponsor their telephone surveys, which are sure to become frequent dinnertime calls this campaign season.

But some perceptive Montgomery County residents quickly picked up on who was behind one recent poll: Democratic state Sen. Ida G. Ruben.

The survey characterized one candidate as a law professor with no political experience and the other as a proponent of education with years of experience in the state legislature. Those descriptions sounded a lot like the Democratic primary contest in District 20 between Ruben, an incumbent with 32 years' experience, and newcomer Jamin Raskin , an American University law professor. The district includes Takoma Park and Silver Spring.

"I had to laugh, because the questions seemed so clearly intended to get a certain response," said Ann Marie Staudenmaier, a lawyer from Takoma Park who took the call. "It just seemed biased."

Others had a stronger reaction. Cindy Brach, a federal government employee from Silver Spring, said she considered the poll essentially an advertisement for Ruben, because it portrayed her favorably and Raskin negatively by "making him look inexperienced."

"It offends me," she said, "because it's manipulative."

Ruben's campaign manager, Philip Olivetti, confirmed that the campaign has been polling to gather information about voters' preferences and views on issues. He defended the characterizations of Raskin as factual, not negative.

"To say that he's a law professor is factual. To say he's inexperienced, certainly he is, having never served in the legislature," Olivetti said.

Naturally, Raskin had a different take on the poll, calling it "negative politics" that "turns people off when we should be getting them engaged."