DM&E poll: It's all in how you ask the questions

Another example of a profit-driven special interest group figuring out the results they want and creating a "poll" to get them:

GOTRAC poll finds support for DM&E plan to upgrade track

NEW ULM – Minnesotans favor Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad’s plan to upgrade its existing tracks in southern Minnesota By a 7-to-1 margin, according to a new statewide survey of Minnesota voters about the railroad improvement plan....

“The survey confirms that Minnesotans overwhelmingly agree with independent evaluations by federal agencies that the DM&E upgrade will benefit farmers and improve safety,” said Randy Rieke of the Southern Grainbelt Shippers Association, who is Minnesota chairman of GOTRAC, a coalition of communities, agriculture and economic development organizations supporting the rail upgrade.

The Rochester Coalition, which is opposing DM&E’s plans to continue to route through Rochester, says the poll results “are just the latest example of the company’s pattern of secrecy and disinformation,” according to a spokesperson.

“This is a classic example of a push poll, making misleading statements about an issue followed by loaded questions to achieve a desired result, and then publicizing their ‘research’ findings for propaganda purposes,” says Lee Aase, a Mayo Clinic spokesperson.

Aase noted that DM&E has refused to release the list of survey questions or the complete results to news media [emphasis mine], just as it has prevented any public scrutiny of the details of its application for a $2.5 billion federal loan. “To support its secret loan, the railroad has commissioned a survey to provide inflated estimates of public support for the project,” he says. “This has been an entirely secretive loan process, which has now been matched by a entirely secretive, deceptive, phony poll.”

The entire article is here.