Topic: Planning a Pollster's Forum
This E-Zine explains how to conduct an activity that has proven useful to children's advocates in past electoral cycles: the pollsters' forum.
A pollster's forum is a gathering of public opinion experts who agree to debrief children's advocates on how the public responded to the candidates' framing of family and children's issues during a recent campaign - especially those issues like education, health care, early childhood care and education, teen pregnancy, drugs, juvenile justice, after school programs, college loans, EITC, targeted tax cuts, etc. that actually get discussed in electoral politics.
WHY DO IT?
The goal of a pollsters' forum is for advocates to take advantage of the millions of dollars of research spent by both political parties to understand where the public is on these issues - what they know, what and whom they believe, what they consider to be the problems, and how they want to see those problems resolved.
Up to the actual election, this research is carefully guarded, proprietary to each candidate or issue advocate who is paying the bill. But once the votes are counted, and the after-election analyses have run their course, these pollsters are often glad to share their broader observations on how the public is viewing such important issues.
Now is the time - well before November's vote count - to get ready to harvest this rich bounty of descriptive and analytic data by planning your own state pollsters' forum.
National pollsters' forums were pioneered by the Coalition for America's Children - you can read the results of the 1998 forum online at www.connectforkids.org/benton_topics1544/benton_topics_show.htm?doc_id=8507. Word has it that more will soon be reposted in the Moms Vote and Get Involved sections, including full statements from the pollsters, audio snips, and a resulting white paper, so check these spaces too.
But state-specific pollsters' forums haven't really come into their own yet - despite the fact that they make good sense for a number of reasons:
- First, many pollsters specialize in state races and ballot initiatives.
- Second, many university-based and independent public opinion institutes and polling firms are regionally focused.
- Third, given the tight presidential contest this election, many "battleground" states are getting more attention than usual, with special focus groups recruiting very specific groups of people and analysts paying more attention to how the issues cut for these groups.
The more you can do to understand how your issues played out this past election in your state, the better off you will be in creating strategies for public outreach that build on the massive advertising monies invested in public education by the two parties.
The pollsters' forum also allows you to get children's issues in front of the pollsters in ways that encourage their attention. Many of these same people will become advisors to the newly elected officials, helping them understand who elected them to do what, what issues are "good for them." and how to connect with key constituencies. By picking the pollsters' brains, you also put children's issues on their radar screens.
And finally, a pollsters' forum allows you to consider whom you want to target in constituency-building efforts. Is there a group you can absolutely count on? Another group that leans in your direction? Another that is opposed to you no matter how you put the issue? Is there a swing constituency that needs more information, more outreach? How do these groups differ in their understanding of children's issues, and which issues matter more to them? Whom do they listen to on these issues? All of these questions become clearer in light of the kind of information that the pollsters can provide.
DO IT WITH CAUTION
There are a couple of important conceptual considerations in planning a pollsters' forum. And it's important to take account of these right from the start.
First, you must engage pollsters from both parties. This is important for safeguarding your nonprofit status, but it is also important to the dynamics of the meeting. You want to create an environment where people who disagreed on candidates can come find common ground on issues. And, frankly, some of the best advice we've ever received on positioning children's issues has come from perplexed pollsters who shared with us their inability to attack Medicaid, and helped us understand the public's protectiveness. So you will want to do all you can to signal to the invited speakers that you are committed to a bipartisan forum; you can do this by anchoring panels with people with whom they are comfortable - a business leader for one panel, and a pediatrician for another. Moreover, all your invitation materials should stress the goal that you want to understand how the public views children's issues, and all the nuances that characterize differences of opinion among Democrats, Republicans, Independents, swing-voters, etc.
Second, you must take their advice with a grain of salt. Electoral campaigning is different from issue campaigning. Pollsters are wedded to a candidate and their goal is to win a single election. By contrast, children's advocates care about a population and a set of issues and their goal is to move those issues onto the policy agenda over time. These differences in goals make for differences in perspective and tactics, too. Often issues are viewed by pollsters according to whether they help or hurt the public's assessment of the candidate's character; and children's issues are especially vulnerable to this political manipulation. Showing a candidate with children helps reinforce the compassionate part of Candidate Bush's compassionate conservatism, and the family commitment of Candidate Bush's fighting for working families maxim. But, in both cases, political operatives may be as interested in positioning the candidate with key publics as they are in elevating issues. Nevertheless, in order to do this effectively, they have to understand how these issues cut with different populations; so the goal of a pollster's forum is to tease out what they know and to disembody it from particular candidates.
Think of electoral campaigning in much the same way you think about product advertising; the voter is being asked to make a point-of-purchase decision between rival candidates. This is far different than the complex world that issues advocates face in trying to catapult children's issues onto the public and policy agenda and to make them as compelling as those espoused by seniors, by environmental activists, by unions, etc. So, while you can learn a lot from these campaigns, do keep in mind that you come from a different, if related, arena of politics.
Third, in order to get good advice, you need to make this a serious briefing for groups that are well prepared to ask good questions and to think through the answers. This would dictate, in our experience, that you avoid members of the media and make this a briefing for people who want to pursue public education and policy options. To the degree that you can home in from the beginning on a shared children's agenda that played out visibly in the election locally - a key health issue, several education issues, violence or safety, juvenile justice, etc. - you are likely to get more specific answers to your questions.
Finally, remember that most pollsters make their living advising groups like yours on issues when they are not doing electoral races. In short, after election 2000, they are looking for business. To the extent that you provide a large audience, pollsters will see your invitation as a new business opportunity and be more likely to participate. Invite a wide array of children's service and advocacy groups: children's hospitals and pediatricians groups, united ways, junior leagues, business groups, teacher's unions, funders, etc.
HOW TO DO IT
- TIMING.
Don't even think about approaching pollsters till well after the election. They don't have the time to devote to anything but the race they're in. You will want to issue invitations in January, allowing time for the inevitable analysis of why things turned out the way they did (November) and vacations to recover from the madness (December). By January, most pollsters have sorted through the post-election data and are concentrating on new business.Now is the time to plan who you want to invite, what you want to ask of them, and how you want to organize your forum.
- SPEAKERS.
Start making a list of the key races in your state. Start with statewide office ( a gubernatorial or senatorial race), and then choose a couple of congressional or mayoral races where your issues may have been highlighted. If you have specific ballot initiatives that touch on children's issues, make sure to include them. Then make a list of these races and document the different sides or who is for and who is against. You will want to contact the headquarters for these campaigns, ask to speak to research director or press liaison, introduce yourself, and ask who is conducting their public opinion research. It will help to be very clear and candid about your plans at this point, so that the campaigns do not perceive you as a threat.Hi. I'm Jane Doe and I'm with a coalition of groups that work on children and family issues. We are trying to plan a bipartisan forum after the election to talk about how our issues played out in the campaign, drawing on political pollsters. We've been impressed with the campaign you've been running and would like to include your public opinion expert. Can you tell me who that is or what firm you use?
You can also note who is quoted in the media or you can contact your state party offices and ask them who, in their estimation, are the major pollsters working in your state. Alternatively, you can call a local college or university's political science department head and ask them the same question.In many places, the newspaper pollster or local university survey research institute are even more knowledgeable than the political pollsters - and they often have more of an historical sense of how issues have played out in the state. Make sure you don't overlook them! Watch the political coverage in your state with this in mind; note the sources for major polls and who is quoted in analytical articles.
Devise a list of speakers: for an all-day meeting, 2 political pollsters, one from each party and a couple of additional sources (newspaper and academic pollsters) is about all you can accommodate, for a total of four. Of course, you should have a back-up list in case your first choices don't come through; also, you may want to make the invitation transferable within a specific polling organization. That is, if you don't get the lead pollster, you are prepared to settle for an associate who is equally familiar with these issues. Secure addresses and emails by calling their offices; wherever possible, get the name and email of their scheduler.
- ISSUES
You can't address all children's issues in a day-long forum, so you are going to have to decide on three specific issues you especially want people to address.Veteran pollster Meg Bostrom counsels that there is great value in hearing what the pollsters believe the key issues were in the races. You'll be surprised how many times you'll hear that children's issues weren't really on the agenda in a substantive way, as those same analysts go on to name education and health as the hot issues. Meg suggests making the first question for any forum: "what were the central issues for voters this year?"
You may want to follow up with a question that links children and family to the hot issues: "how do you think children and family issues played out within these specific topics?" Next, you will want to move to specifics, defining your children's agenda in advance and framing specific issues questions for the speakers. If you have devised "Questions for Candidates," you can refine these for this purpose. For example:
- What were the central issues for voters this year?
- How did children's issues play out in this election with the public? Which children's issues did candidates feel they had to address substantively and why? What do newly-elected public officials know they have to do to deliver on their rhetoric with respect to families?
- How did public concern over the public education system express itself in your research? What do you think is fueling public concern and what particular aspects of education (pre-school, college, basics, values, teacher preparation, etc.) do people in this state want politicians to address?
- Can you give us some help in understanding how people in this state view assistance to poor and near-poor families? Is there growing support for a living wage, for more robust EITC, for subsidized child care? Is there a perception that the new economy has not lifted all boats, has indeed left some families behind? And how does that realization, if there is one, play out across groups?
- If you were going to wage a campaign to help people understand that we need to do more to invest in the neighborhoods in this State, what policies (provide a list here of things you are considering) do you think would be best understood by the public and how would you frame them for support, based on what you've seen in this election?
- What were the central issues for voters this year?
- PROGRAM.
You will want to put together a program committee to work on the day's flow of issues, personalities and discussion. Try to identify knowledgeable people who can be asked to take the lead in asking questions, providing thoughtful responses and doing their homework after the election as the analyses become available.Here's a draft program that has worked at the national level:
9:00 - Introduction to the day
A leading children's advocate or other engaging figure sets the days goals, reviews the program and sets out the issues that the group would like to see addressed.9:30 - Pollsters' panel
Four pollsters present short statements (15 - 20 minutes each) in response to the questions provided in their invitation letters
11:00 - Questions and responses
Two children's advocates lead the audience in asking questions, probing, getting additional information
12: 00 - Luncheon
- COMPENSATION.
The best way to get good advice is to provide a small honorarium ($250 - $500) in exchange for a written response (3 to 5 pages) to the questions you propose in the invitation letter. Not only does this give you something to post on your website and to hand out to those who couldn't make it, but it also assures that the speakers will come to the meeting prepared.While the briefing is by invitation only and off the record, you should make clear to the speakers that you would like to post their public statements online and that a writer will attend the meeting and cover it for your website. You should provide each pollster with a copy of the overview so that they can strike anything from their own statements that they might find controversial.
- COVERING THE MEETING.
The best way to make sure you quickly capture the nature of the discussion is to hire a freelance journalist to cover the meeting and to provide you with a news-style article for posting on your website. It should be clear that the article is proprietary to you, and that the contents of the meeting is not for public disclosure. This prevents the journalist from turning around and using your material as background to another article. Depending on the going rate in your state, you will pay between $500 and $1,000 for a 1,000 - 2,000 word article. You should ask for the article within a week after the forum, and be prepared to hotlink this overview to the statements provided by the pollsters. - FORMAT AND SET-UP.
Make sure you offer audiovisual supports to the speakers and encourage them to bring charts and graphs. That way you will also encourage them to do some additional thinking and analysis on your issues.You may want to provide one or more standing mikes in the audience. This provides an orderly way of getting people to line up to ask questions and makes sure everyone can be heard.
- BACKGROUNDING THE POLLSTERS.
You will want to provide a carefully selected array of background materials. If you have materials developed for the election, make sure you include those. If you have a fact sheet that addresses the specific issues you are raising at the forum, include it. Do not include your standard array of fact sheets and annual reports. Pollsters are very savvy at tossing non-essential material. Offer to talk in advance of the meeting by phone, in order to provide any additional information they require. - SAMPLE INVITATION LETTER
Dear _____
I'm writing to ask you to participate in an important gathering this January in Major City, State.
For over a decade, children's groups have been consulting a broad array of national public opinion experts and political strategists from both sides of the aisle to advise our nonprofit groups about the climate affecting kids following each election cycle. We have found this information to be of great value as we try to plan how to connect our issues to public perceptions and concerns.
We would like to begin a new page of this work by convening a pollster's forum here in State. We suspect that many of the questions that groups from the State PTA to City Children's Hospital and State Kids Count have about children's issues require more regional and state-specific answers. To get at this new climate surrounding children's issues in our state, we are inviting the leading public opinion experts from both parties as well as those in academia and major polling institutions to help us sort through the election results as they pertain to our issues. We hope you will be able to join us.
On January 15, from 9 a.m. to noon, at the BYZ Club, we will hold a pollsters' forum, entitled "Rethinking Election 2000 With Kids In Mind" to take stock of where children's issues are today in the political landscape. We hope you will join us to add your insights and research to the next phase of campaigning for kids.
Our audience will be drawn from the diverse array of state and local groups that champion children's issues --- advocacy and service organizations that have led the way with voter education efforts, candidate debates, and media campaigns to raise public support for children's issues. From the State Kids Count project that documents the status of children in our state to the PTAs, Junior Leagues, and Children's Hospitals who advocate, volunteer and care for children and families, we represent a diverse constituency united around these issues.
Our forum will explore the following questions:
INSERT YOUR QUESTIONS HERE
To sharpen the discussion and extend its reach, we are asking that each presenter prepare written comments of approximately 1,500 words total, addressing these five areas. We hope that, wherever possible, you will draw lessons from your own research and provide data that illustrates your points. If you have relevant research you would like us to post, or that is included on your own website, please feel free to attach this and to let us know how we can hotlink to it directly. The articles should be submitted to X no later than Y date.
While the forum will not be open to the press or the general public, these short articles will be published, with your byline, on the XYZ website (URL) as part of our campaign discussion. We will also be retaining a writer to summarize the discussion for posting online.
For your participation in the session and your written comments, we are prepared to offer a $500 honorarium. If you are unable to participate in the session, but would like to submit comments, we can offer a $250 honorarium.
For background, we've enclosed the following materials that describe the status of children in our state and key issues affecting their well-being: (details). Please feel free, however, to give me call should you have additional questions or concerns.
Since we announced our intention to host this meeting, we've been literally deluged with people who want to make sure they make the meeting. So we can assure you that this will be a lively, provocative and well attended event. We hope you can join us. Please r.s.v.p. to ____ at phone number.
Sincerely,
- USING THE POLLSTERS' FORUM STRATEGICALLY.
The first thing you'll want to do after the forum is to assess how your policy agenda can be informed by the analysis you've just heard. Ask yourself these questions:- Were the issues we are addressing visible to the public this election? If so, how does the public now understand them, in light of media coverage and candidate attention? If not, can our issues be repositioned so that they DO connect with something the public wants done?
- Do candidates think that our issues helped elect them? If so, what can we do now to make the point that the public wants them to deliver on their promises?
- How should we reframe our issues to take advantage of public understanding and sentiment? Are there important election outcomes that need to be incorporated into our message and policy positioning?
- What constituencies mattered to which politicians this election? Are these people we know and contact? How can we forge new alliances that will place children's issues more forcefully on the policy agenda? Who stayed home, and what can we do to make these issues more salient with potential voters?
- Are we seeing our issues the way the public sees them, or are we talking policy-ese? Are we connecting with real people, or are we assuming they are already with us in defining the problems so all we need to do is convince them of the solutions? What critical insights did we gain about how the public sees kids' issues?
Finally, stay in touch with the pollsters! One of the great outcomes from these forums nationally was the increased attention to children's issues by the pollsters themselves! As they became more familiar with the issues and the policy options proposed by children's advocates, they became more interested in testing these issues for their own clients. Let them know you would like to be kept informed about opportunities to share polling (participate in omnibus polls) and be briefed on results. Incorporate quarterly briefings on new public opinion data into your organization's schedule and get used to thinking about public opinion as a critical bridge between your communications and public policy plans. And get ready to brief the pollsters on your issues, as the next election cycle dawns.
- Were the issues we are addressing visible to the public this election? If so, how does the public now understand them, in light of media coverage and candidate attention? If not, can our issues be repositioned so that they DO connect with something the public wants done?
