Eric Sundwall

Mr. Sundwall,

I have your email about today's Siena poll asking why you were not included. We included the candidates listed on the NYS Board of Elections' website: Sweeney (R, C, I) and Gillibrand (D, WFP).

Good luck in your campaign,

Steven Greenberg
Spokesman
Siena New York Poll

Mr. Greenberg,

Unfortunately, we may not be included on that list until today or possibly as late as Sept. 5th.
I would appreciate any guidelines or positions within your organization about such possible inequities and problems.

Unfortunately for the voters of the district, this may end up costing us a position at any debates.
There is of course, the option of a paid poll on our part.

Sincerely,

Eric Sundwall

Greenberg replies again;

There is always the option of a paid poll, as I assume your two opponents have done on at least several ocassions already.

The Board of Elections did not list your candidacy and, as a resident of the 20th CD, I was not aware of your candidacy.

With all due respect, decisions on who to include in debates will be made by the debate sponsors based on the viability of the various candidacies.

Good luck with your campaign over the next 10 weeks.

I did in fact indicate a paid poll was an option. Unfortunately the accusations of push polling may in fact be levied in such instances. A public poll would be a more suitable reference. Especially for a third party candidate.

As stated, the BOE has not 'validated' the ballot position according to their rules. Your awareness is certainly to be questioned.

Decisions are often based on a certain threshold based on polls. That is a fact.

Here's a copy of a form letter mailed out to all relevant pollsters in the 20th district sometime in March;

Marist Institute for Public Opinion
Marist College, Fontaine Hall
3399 North Road
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601

March 27, 2006

To Whom It May Concern:

Eric Sundwall of Columbia County is seeking the LPNY nomination for NY’s
20th Congressional District. Please include his name in any polling that might be done in
regards to this race. His nomination should be official in terms of the party by the end of
April. Obviously ballot status will not be known until after the petitioning period at the
end of August.
Please indicate any reason why the candidate’s name might not be included in any
such poll.

Sincerely,

Eric Sundwall
Niverville, NY
(518) 754-1023

It seems the relavancy of a poll is dictated by the monied interests that support it.

Eric,
It is not clear Mr. Greenberg understands that you are as certain to be on the ballot in November, as a Libertarian candidate can possibly be, pursuant to the BOE rules. Their delay in publicizing your candidacy is not due to any delay on your part whatsoever. You have been a candidate for X months, and the BOE's failure to acknowledge that to date should not be held against you. As indicated by a previous poll, your candidacy is one of the most viable of non-major-party candidacies, and should continue to be considered in every reputable poll for that race.

Gary,

He never responded to this concern either:
"I would appreciate any guidelines or positions within your organization about such possible inequities and problems."

We simply have to question Mr. Greenberg's entire effort. If he cannot check the one historical data point in terms of this race, surely the concept of 'Research Institute' must be called into question.

Thanks for the input guys.

Eric

The Catch 22 Libertarians have experienced since 1972 is this:
A candidate has to be deemed ``viable" for inclusion in public
debates and most polls. But in order to become ``viable" that
candidate needs to be known to the public, and in order to become
known to the public the candidate needs exposure in debates and
polls. So either a candidate is wealthy or is backed by deep pockets
or the candidate remains ``unviable" and unknown. Since deep
pockets are often filled corruptly, the result is that corruption wins.
An equally significant result is that real issues never get honestly
raised and discussed. The ``debates" are invariably just big-money-
sponsored beauty contests and exchanges of apple pie platitudes.