Oppenhagen Column: The only poll that counts

Just when I was wondering if they were still in vogue, I received a call to participate in a political poll last week. I rather enjoy participating in these polls. Some folks I know participate in these polls to
skew the results — they try to figure out which candidate is paying for the information and then answer the questions to make it seem as though they agree with that candidate.

I generally answer these polls honestly. I listen carefully to try to determine who is paying for the poll before they tell me at the end. For me, the interest is in hearing the ideas being considered as sound
bites or message points for the campaign. Doing this helps me anticipate whether the campaign is going to be honest or bitter.

So, what did I learn? Well, one thing I learned was that the Democratic candidate for governor, Creigh Deeds, really needs to get his name out there. The interviewer pronounced his name incorrectly (she
pronounced it as rhyming with day rather than the correct rhyming with knee). And, interestingly enough, when I corrected her, she said that no one had bothered to correct her before. Given this, (1) Mr.
Deeds needs to pronounce his name more often; and (2) I need to not correct other people when they pronounce things wrong.

I am generally pretty good about controlling my desire to correct others. It is difficult, though. When I walk through the mall, I want to tell the teenagers to hike their drawers up or take off their hat in the
building. It has just become a habit after working in a school for so long.

But back to the topic at hand (which is political polling, not pulling up drawers). I also learned through the course of the poll that I am not familiar with all of the candidates who will be on the ballot this
November. The irony is that the person who paid for the poll is the person with whom I am unfamiliar. And that he is the person with whom I am still unfamiliar even after the poll. I really don’t have an idea
of what issues he is going to use in the campaign.

What I hope doesn’t happen is that the House of Delegates race and the governor’s race become a statement on President Obama I am a little deflated by the president’s performance thus far on some
issues. But he was elected with such high expectations, there is was no way that any mortal being could achieve our expectations and aspirations this quickly.

The Virginia governor should not have to be saddled with our need to make our expectations more realistic. There is enough going on here. The state budget is in the red — cuts are going to have to be
made that will not be popular. Granted, Tim Kaine is the person who will make those cuts, but whoever succeeds him is going to have to deal with the fall out. Trying to balance the budget with declining
revenues and stable, if not increasing, expenditures in Virginia is not the president’s job or responsibility; it belongs to the new governor.

So, how are we to judge who would make a better governor? We need to look at the record that each has provided from their time in the General Assembly and, in Mr. McDonnell’s case, as Attorney
General. In McDonnell’s case, this would also include a perusal of his “school paper.”

The school paper he refers to, and would like to have us ignore, was not a paper written for a particular class or a “devil’s advocate” paper or a paper written to satisfy a professor who is a jerk. The paper
was written as the culminating project for his degree. The ideology was consistent with that of the school, which Mr. McDonnell chose to attend. And his work in the General Assembly reflects the
positions written about in the paper. Has he changed his priorities so much that he would not focus on those issues as governor? It is something we need to think about as the election gets closer.

Because, in the end, the only poll that counts is the one that’s taken on election day. That’s the poll that we direct. But to be fully informed, and to make the choice that is best for Virginia and not a
choice that reflects our opinion of the president, we need to look at the information before us. We need to find information that is not spun to one or the other candidate’s advantage, not directed by poll
results but directed by our priorities, our individual poll. That’s the poll you can trust.

Denise Oppenhagen, a longtime resident of Prince William County, can be reached at DenOp1@comcast.net.