"Polling and Politics" in Oconee County - featuring our lone Democratic Oconee County candidate

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Rich Clark is running for the Board of Education post 5.



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Pat Priest
Member, Oconee Democrats
706/353-8310

"Polling and Politics: Getting Past a Horse Race Mentality and Down to
Issues"

June 29, 2008
7 PM
Oconee County Public Library

Georgians have many pressing concerns: the price of gas, the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan, global climate change, and much more. But what do
they feel should be done about these challenges?

Public polling - when done well - can provide a voice to citizens so
that their concerns and opinions are taken into account when
policymakers get down to work in Washington, Atlanta, and
Watkinsville. And polling often reveals that Georgians are more
thoughtful and more generous in spirit than politicians and the press
seem to believe they are.

Dr. Rich Clark, an analyst at the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson
Institute of Government, will speak about "Polling and Politics: Getting
Past a Horse Race Mentality and Down to Issues" at 7 PM on Sunday, June
29th, at the Oconee County library on Experiment Station Road in
Watkinsville. Dr. Clark's presentation is a sneak preview of a new
class he'll be teaching at the University of Georgia this fall.

The Oconee County Democrats are sponsoring the lecture as part of the
group's monthly Sunday conversation series that brings engaging speakers
who are experts in their field to Oconee County.

Dr. Clark, an Oconee County resident, manages the Vinson Institute's
Survey Research and Data Services Unit. He started and runs the Peach
State Poll, a phone survey conducted three times each year that captures
Georgians' attitudes on a host of issues.

And some of the findings are surprising. For example, the Peach State
Poll found that most Georgians don't feel that illegal immigrants
threaten their jobs; poll respondents believe illegal immigrants are
doing jobs Georgians don't want to do.

And rather unexpected attitudes crop up in other areas of public policy
such as transportation. A recent summary culled from Peach State Poll
findings reported that "given two alternatives, 70 percent of the public
favor projects to expand public transportation over building more roads
and highways (24 percent) as a priority for state government spending on
transportation. In addition, 63 percent of those surveyed disapprove of
allowing vehicles with no passengers to use the high-occupancy vehicle
lane for a fee."

Dr. Clark will present recent poll data - some surprising and some
expected -- and discuss the care taken when designing surveys so that
questions capture how citizens feel about issues, candidates, and
policies. He acknowledges that survey data can be misused. He
cautions, "Polling can pervert the system when, for example, coverage of
politics becomes simply a horse race." He seeks to drill down instead
to provide more context to simple figures about public sentiment.

The Carl Vinson Institute for Government uses the Peach State Poll
findings and data derived from other research to assist elected
officials throughout the state as they make laws and institute policy.

Dr. Clark taught political science at the University of Connecticut
before moving with his family to Oconee County 7 years ago to work at
the Institute. While at the University of Connecticut, he directed the
Masters of Survey Research program. He has also worked as a project
manager of Internet and phone survey projects at the Center for Survey
Research and Analysis in Connecticut and as a researcher at the Roper
Center for Public Opinion Research. He is president of the Southern
Association for Public Opinion Research.

Dr. Clark is currently running for a post on the school board in Oconee
County. He says, "I decided to run for office because it's a natural
extension of the public service nature of our work at the Institute that
seeks to determine and implement wise policy that responds to the needs
of citizens."

For more information about the Sunday lecture, contact Pat Priest at
ppriest@charter.net.

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