Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Michael Kiernan today warned Iowans to be wary of partisan polls that are disguised and presented to the Iowa media as legitimate private surveys.

“This is an interesting little gimmick Doug Gross seems to have found — you conduct a partisan poll, paid for by a 527 group whose sole purpose is to get Republicans elected, then you ask loaded questions to get your desired results,” Kiernan said.

The gimmick is not a new one. Other Republican organizations have used the method in the recent past, and some Iowa media outlets have presented the information as a valid public opinion poll. “How could this be seen as anything other than part of a campaign to smear Gov. Culver, and distract attention from his work on job creation, economic stimulus and disaster recovery?” Kiernan said.

“If we put up a poll on our Democratic Party website, I would hope it would be covered too,” Kiernan said. “Governor Culver cares less about partisan polls and more about creating good jobs in wake of the Bush/Cheney recession and rebuilding the state after the worst floods in our state’s history — those are things that actually matter to Iowans.”

Kiernan urged Iowans who have seen partisan polls being covered in the media as if they were legitimate public opnion surveys to contact him at the Iowa Democratic Party – (515) 244-7292.