What Do The Polls Mean?
Already the spin is coming on the poll recently released that says a majority of voters think Marion County is on the wrong track and want someone other than Bart Peterson as Mayor.
Let’s establish a couple things. A poll is a snapshot of the mood of the voters. Second, the poll done on Peterson was done by Republicans but it was the same company that predicted victories for Mitch Daniels, Carl Brizzi and Todd Rokita. And even as my counterpart and friendly rival Amos Brown pointed out, the poll sampled a representative number of African-Americans who have always been strong supporters of the Mayor.
With that said, say what you will about the poll, but there is clearly a lot of dissent in the County right now. Whether it is taxes, crime or other quality of life issues. Property taxes skyrocketed and the “relief” taxpayers were supposed to get will only be a fraction of what they were hoping for. The Uniform Crime Statistics show robberies and aggravated assaults on the rise. And we solved our jail overcrowding problem, in part, by making it easier for criminals to walk. The Council is mired in controversy and ethical clouds under the leadership of Monroe Gray.
I don’t know about you, but with this kind of climate, are you surprised the Mayor’s poll numbers are what they are? And here’s something else to ponder, if these many people are mad at the Mayor, will $3 million worth of TV commericials really do anything to change that? If you know something different, please tell me because unless something major happens, I don’t see this shaping up any other way but bad for the party in power.
