I just got a phone call from Conquest Research.

[Staph]

They had a few questions, a brief poll. Let me see if I can remember them.

Do I vote for union-backed Democratic candidates for state legislature?
(I can't remember the second question.)
Do I always vote for Democrats, or do I sometimes vote for Republicans?
Do I support the removal of the 5% food tax, or do I think that the state needs the money?

At this point I asked "who sponsored this poll?" The poll-taker said that the poll was being taken by Conquest Research. I asked who was paying for the poll. She said that she just asks the questions and doesn't know who pays for it. I responded that this sounds like a push poll to me. She said thank you and hung up.

Anybody else gotten a similar phone call? It stinks of Don Blankenship to me!

[Lasher]

1. There's a polling company with that name in the UK

Did the caller have a British accent?

It looks like they specialize in corporate marketing and advertising research. You might be right about Blankenship's involvement. I wonder if Massey Energy is one of their clients?

http://www.conquestuk.com/our_expertise.html

[Staph]

2. If I can say this without appearing racist,

the woman sounded black. Not big-city-urban-slang black, but there was something indefinable in her voice that said middle-class black to me. Definitely American, though.

I did the same Google search for Conquest Research myself. I know that Blankenship has a bit of a carpetbagger reputation for claiming to be a West Virginian while running his company out of Richmond, but a UK polling firm seems a little too far afield even for him.

[Hubert Flottz]

3. I got a call from them about a week ago too...same questions.

At the end the person said that it was paid for by Don Blankensnipe.