Polled TWICE today

Phone interviewers must be having a hard time finding people to talk with on such a nice Saturday. I know I'm on a lot of lists -- I vote every time and will almost always respond to surveys because I want to know what they are asking. And if I'm around, I answer my land line. As usual, since I am neither a member of the conventional media nor employed by a politician, I got by the screening questions, though I can't believe they really want someone like me in the sample.

The first poll: my views on some issues. If Gavin Newsom had any viable opposition, I'd think this one was about the fall mayor's race. But that doesn't make any sense; he doesn't. I can't quite believe Eric Jaye is taking Newsom's donors to the cleaners this obviously. This poll asked my views on the importance of various real, quasi-local, issues -- but oddly. The phrasing of the questions seemed wrong for San Francisco: did I think illegal immigration was a pressing problem? Should San Francisco bring businesses to the city even if they increase congestion? Just weird stuff.

Can Tony Hall have come up with enough money to run an issue poll? Or, perhaps a darker suspicion: is some data vendor developing a more sophisticated file of frequent voters' views in the guise of a mayoral poll?

The second poll: what would I think of a comprehensive Candlestick Point development plan that just happens to include a 49ers stadium: This poll was far more straightforward. It tested my attitudes toward various possible spokespeople and then toward various worthy items that might be included in such a measure -- things like jobs for Bayview residents, renovated public housing, retail space, more park land, new housing (maybe affordable), and, oh yes, also a stadium.

I started out responding neutrally -- "who says this would do this?" Naturally, that wasn't answered. The more claims of a rosy future I heard, the less I believed in the benefits of the plan. So I said so. If we really do see a stadium cum Candlestick development plan on the February primary ballot, I think it will have a rough ride. We've been down this track before, in more prosperous times.

Unless maybe the 49ers win the division or the conference....