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What you’re doing right now is a rather benign but unhelpful form of push polling, in that you’re asking her questions that you hope will make her change her mind and behavior.

Even before being approached by a reporter, Ms. Spanberger said in the interview that she had become suspicious that the application had been leaked because Republican-aligned groups conducting “push polling” in the race had been asking respondents whether they knew she had once taught at the Islamic Saudi Academy in Alexandria, Va., an international baccalaureate program.

Push polling: The controversial practice where voters are contacted over the telephone by people who are ostensibly taking a poll, but who talk up their own candidate and rubbish opponents.

After looking at the survey and Congressional Monitor’s website, Bowers said the production value and questions were too slapdash for a serious effort at influencing people’s thinking – what’s known in political marketing as “push polling.”

“Push polling” has begun as well, with questions aimed at portraying the court as soft on murderers and likely to trigger tax increases.