Despite having recently been ousted from the Richland school board in a recall by his own conservative constituents, ultra MAGA gubernatorial hopeful Semi Bird is still publicly maintaining that his campaign can go the distance and vault him into the governor’s mansion. So on Thursday, when NPI’s latest gubernatorial polling came out and showed Bird way behind fellow Republican Dave Reichert and Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson, he wasn’t happy.
In a lengthy, hilariously incoherent post on Twitter, Bird struggled to respond to the numbers that show his campaign is not gaining momentum, vacillating from denouncing it to looking for a silver lining in the data. It might be the weirdest and also most entertaining rant ever published in response to an NPI poll finding.
Let’s go through it and you can see what I mean.
And here we go! The Uni-party propaganda machine is in full operation to ensure that their top-two candidates are in the general election next year, thus influencing election outcomes and muffling the voice of “we the people.”
I’ve heard plenty of people argue that both major political parties are corrupt over the years, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard the phrase “Uni-party propaganda machine” before. Very interesting. So, is everyone not on board with Semi Bird part of a conspiracy to keep him out of the governor’s mansion?
This should not come as a surprise to anyone. It’s time to unite as citizens committed to a “One-Washington” movement, not defined or manipulated by the Uni-party establishment.
Good luck trying to figure out what any of that is supposed to mean.
If there’s already a “Uni-party” in existence, then why do we need a “One-Washington” movement to compete with it? And why would such a movement even be desirable given the implication that “the Uni-party” is bad?
FACTS: We have been endorsed by over 14 GOP counties and have pledges of support from Democrats, Independents, and Republicans alike.
There’s no such thing as “GOP counties” — what Bird means here is Republican county party organizations. Washington has thirty-nine counties and each of them, or at least most of them, have a Republican central committee.
We have more multi-demographic support than any GOP candidate in the last 40 years.
Interesting claim. Where’s the evidence for it?
We have driven over 40,000 miles and campaigned in almost every county in the state.
Great, so Semi has done a lot of driving around. Congratulations on that. Hope you’ve had a chance to enjoy some of our state’s wonderful landscapes, Semi.
THE POLL: Northwest PROGRESSIVE Institute
This non-validated poll with a 700-person sample group solicits results from approximately 18 people per county. As a trained researcher, this methodology is heavily flawed and non-representative of the voting populace.
Despite claiming to be “a trained researcher,” Semi clearly does not understand how credible public opinion research is obtained. Polling makes use of samples by necessity, and samples need not be enormous to be properly representative.
The composition of the sample is what matters, not the size.
Washington’s population and voting electorate not evenly distributed across its thirty-nine counties. Some counties are really big, like King, Snohomish, and Whatcom. Others are really tiny, like Garfield, Wahkiakum, or Stevens. If the tiny counties had just as much representation in the sample as the big ones, the sample would be unrepresentative and worthless. It is nonsensical to characterize our sample as having “results from approximately 18 people per county.”
From which pool were these “presumed” voters drawn, perhaps selectively from the Progressive Institute?
Like our results post clearly says, this survey was conducted for NPI by Public Policy Polling, who we have worked with for over ten years. They handled the fielding. 42% of the voters who participated were interviewed on their landlines and took the survey using interactive voice response technology, while 58% were recruited by text to take the survey online. If Semi were a trained researcher like he claims, he wouldn’t be embarrassing himself with silly comments like this.
Our standing at 10% contrasts starkly with the 5% of a current Democratic Senator who, despite amassing over $923,000 in campaign funds, falls behind.
The polling’s unreliability becomes evident, especially as we anticipate capturing the undecided 22% of voters. Our appeal lies in being a non-establishment candidate, offering a non-partisan platform focused on unity and common sense.
These last two paragraphs are my favorite part.
If Semi doesn’t think our polling is credible or reliable, then why is he talking about capturing the 22% of voters who said they were not sure? And why brag that he has twice as much support as State Senator Mark Mullet?
He could have just said “we saw NPI’s polling and we think it’s worthless.”
But nope… he decided to post this instead.
If nothing else, it’s a timely reminder that not everyone who runs for an important position of public responsibility possesses good judgment or qualifications.
Saturday, November 18th, 2023
Semi Bird offers hilariously incoherent response to NPI’s new gubernatorial polling
Despite having recently been ousted from the Richland school board in a recall by his own conservative constituents, ultra MAGA gubernatorial hopeful Semi Bird is still publicly maintaining that his campaign can go the distance and vault him into the governor’s mansion. So on Thursday, when NPI’s latest gubernatorial polling came out and showed Bird way behind fellow Republican Dave Reichert and Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson, he wasn’t happy.
In a lengthy, hilariously incoherent post on Twitter, Bird struggled to respond to the numbers that show his campaign is not gaining momentum, vacillating from denouncing it to looking for a silver lining in the data. It might be the weirdest and also most entertaining rant ever published in response to an NPI poll finding.
Let’s go through it and you can see what I mean.
I’ve heard plenty of people argue that both major political parties are corrupt over the years, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard the phrase “Uni-party propaganda machine” before. Very interesting. So, is everyone not on board with Semi Bird part of a conspiracy to keep him out of the governor’s mansion?
Good luck trying to figure out what any of that is supposed to mean.
If there’s already a “Uni-party” in existence, then why do we need a “One-Washington” movement to compete with it? And why would such a movement even be desirable given the implication that “the Uni-party” is bad?
There’s no such thing as “GOP counties” — what Bird means here is Republican county party organizations. Washington has thirty-nine counties and each of them, or at least most of them, have a Republican central committee.
Interesting claim. Where’s the evidence for it?
Great, so Semi has done a lot of driving around. Congratulations on that. Hope you’ve had a chance to enjoy some of our state’s wonderful landscapes, Semi.
Despite claiming to be “a trained researcher,” Semi clearly does not understand how credible public opinion research is obtained. Polling makes use of samples by necessity, and samples need not be enormous to be properly representative.
The composition of the sample is what matters, not the size.
Washington’s population and voting electorate not evenly distributed across its thirty-nine counties. Some counties are really big, like King, Snohomish, and Whatcom. Others are really tiny, like Garfield, Wahkiakum, or Stevens. If the tiny counties had just as much representation in the sample as the big ones, the sample would be unrepresentative and worthless. It is nonsensical to characterize our sample as having “results from approximately 18 people per county.”
Like our results post clearly says, this survey was conducted for NPI by Public Policy Polling, who we have worked with for over ten years. They handled the fielding. 42% of the voters who participated were interviewed on their landlines and took the survey using interactive voice response technology, while 58% were recruited by text to take the survey online. If Semi were a trained researcher like he claims, he wouldn’t be embarrassing himself with silly comments like this.
These last two paragraphs are my favorite part.
If Semi doesn’t think our polling is credible or reliable, then why is he talking about capturing the 22% of voters who said they were not sure? And why brag that he has twice as much support as State Senator Mark Mullet?
He could have just said “we saw NPI’s polling and we think it’s worthless.”
But nope… he decided to post this instead.
If nothing else, it’s a timely reminder that not everyone who runs for an important position of public responsibility possesses good judgment or qualifications.
# Written by Andrew Villeneuve :: 3:39 PM
Categories: Elections
Tags: WA-Gov
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