If you’re wondering how it looks for the Greenlight Pinellas transit plan that’s going to the voters in November, you’d still be wondering after having seen the latest polls. The Friends of Greenlight political committee recently told the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, among others, that support for Greenlight was at 58 percent. This was countered by a recent StPetePolls survey that found that only 41 percent of registered voters were willing to pay more in taxes to fund better transit.
Which is it? Both.
As with most polls, even the brand-name ones, it’s too easy to steer responses and further an agenda with survey variables. It’s too easy to push poll. The general public needs to know specifics on the sampling demographic, whether calls were via land line or mobile phones, what questions were asked and who did the asking.
Both The Friends of Greenlight and StPetePolls provided sample examples:
FOG Question: Do you prefer the status quo of gridlock to meaningful mass transit alternatives?
FOG Question: Would you prefer a mass-transit alternative to adding to pollution and wasting gas and patience idling in traffic?
SPP Question: Are residents of this county paying too little in taxes?
SPP Question: Would you mind paying even higher taxes just so some folks could ride a train that will never pay for itself?