RNC’s Poor Form

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Question #1: It has been documented that one of the major U.S. political parties sent out a push-poll “survey” asking questions about health care that have no relation to reality. The survey attempted to scare readers into thinking that Democratic lawmakers might use voter registration rolls to discriminate against Republicans in the allocation of government-funded medical treatment.  Everyone knows this is not true. Does this slimy tactic concern you?

If your answer is yes, then look at the “survey” from the Republican National Committee that voters in Washington State have been receiving. If your answer is no, then please tell me why in the comments. I would like to understand how your mind works. (The RNC’s response after the jump.)

The exact phrasing of the RNC question was:

It has been suggested that the government could use voter registration to determine a person’s political affiliation, prompting fears that GOP voters might be discriminated against for medical treatment in a Democrat-imposed health care rationing system. Does this possibility concern you?

[I have asked for a comment on the mailer from the RNC. Will post what I get when I get it.]

UPDATE: Katie Wright, a spokeswoman for the RNC, just emailed me a statement saying the question was “inartfully worded.” She goes on to suggest that the real issue the question was getting at was one of privacy, for which there are predictable issues that arise in the health reform legislation regarding information sharing across government agencies. But just to reiterate, privacy concerns are one thing. The idea, however, that anyone would use voter registration to determine health care allocation is a malicious fiction intended to disrupt the debate, not further it. Here is Wright’s full statement:

Although the question was inartfully worded, Americans have reason to be concerned about the failure of the Democrats’ health care experiment to adequately protect the privacy of Americans’ personal information.  From bank accounts to tax payments to personal medical care data, the bill gives government bureaucrats access to a range of Americans’ personal information but does little if anything to protect that data from misuse and abuse.  This is one of the many reasons we have called on President Obama to slow this bill down so that we can get health care reform right.