tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-199290522011-11-29T13:35:07.487-06:00This blog is designed to generate a dialogue on current issues in American politics. We discuss today’s relevant political issues. No confidential or client related data are discussed on this forum.Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.comBlogger331100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-16037464847819632352011-11-29T13:07:00.003-06:002011-11-29T13:35:07.607-06:00

The links below feature our political analysis of the 2nd Congressional District Democratic Primary race and supporting documents that were previously released on the 21st. Political Analysis of 2nd CD SurveysSummary ToplineTables for IVR & Cellular StudyTables for Live Landline & Cellular StudyRejoin us next week for a discussion of the benefits and challenges we encountered in this test of IVR

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-44398166925847493182011-11-21T09:34:00.001-06:002011-11-21T09:43:43.403-06:00

Fako & Associates, Inc. conducted two surveys last week within the newly defined 2nd Congressional District of Illinois. We conducted these surveys as an internal test, not commissioned by any campaign or third party organization. We chose the 2nd Congressional District to run nearly identical Interactive Voice Recognition and traditional live interviewer surveys because of the unique dynamics

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-50623095780101003572011-02-10T11:29:00.004-06:002011-02-10T11:35:49.077-06:00

Steve Leopoldo has been promoted to Vice President. Steve joined F&A in 2005 and has helped develop winning strategy and message for political and public policy clients throughout the country during his six years with the firm. Most recently, he was the lead polling analyst for the Illinois House Democratic Caucus / Democratic Party of Illinois’ successful effort to maintain their majority and

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-70731695050779390592010-11-03T11:39:00.010-05:002010-11-03T12:59:53.025-05:00

Fako & Associates congratulates our many successful clients of yesterday’s mid-term election.It was a tough year for Democrats throughout the State and Country, but there were several victories that deserve note:Sara Feigenholtz (IL HD 12)Keith Farnham (IL HD 43)Daniel Biss (IL HD 17)Bill Cunningham (IL HD 35)Kevin McCarthy (IL HD 37)Fred Crespo (IL HD 44)Elaine Nekritz (IL HD 57)Karen May (IL HD

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-16742869988529799892010-09-28T15:06:00.004-05:002010-09-28T15:17:10.190-05:00

This is an interesting article written by Charlie Cook on the National Journal. He quotes Stu Rothenberg's comments about internal polling and much of what is publicly available. The passage that most interested us is: "I should echo an argument made several weeks ago by my good friend and competitor Stu Rothenberg. He scoffed at those who mistakenly believed that polls conducted independently

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-26063180429195750772010-06-08T16:16:00.013-05:002010-06-08T16:27:59.373-05:00

"I would say that we may have underestimated the anti-incumbent mood."-- U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas), cnn.com, June 8, 2010After reading this, we were wondering where the Senator has been living for the last year – in a cave?A strong anti-incumbent, anti-establishment and anti-Washington sentiment has been brewing for over a year, manifesting in real political movements and some

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-19885193001805421322010-01-22T11:47:00.006-06:002010-01-22T12:04:10.165-06:00

Coakley's loss in the presumed one of the safest of US Senate seats for Democrats came as a major upset, but not a surprise based on data in the closing weeks of the campaign. It is apparent that Coakley was not a good candidate and Brown was very good. Tactical and strategic mistakes were made by Coakley’s campaign, and those mistakes have been and continue to be discussed in depth

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-71089810724777967522009-06-23T15:46:00.002-05:002009-06-23T15:49:04.967-05:00

There’s often a disconnect between what public opinion survey results suggest and the public’s true position on an issue. To understand why survey results sometime imply one outcome and reality reveals another, the consumers of public opinion data need to learn the difference and identify philosophical position and substantive survey questions.Philosophical survey questions, as philosophical

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-66855242936528531342009-04-08T08:36:00.000-05:002009-04-09T08:39:09.502-05:00

We wish to congratulate several of our mayoral clients who achieved electoral victories in yesterday’s municipal elections: Tom Weisner of Aurora, IL (62%), Tim Nugent of the Village of Manteno, IL (53%), and John Spring of Quincy, IL (54%).Yesterday’s municipal election was dramatically different than the general election we experienced just six months ago. Despite the clear skies and

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-5581940464283566302009-04-02T10:12:00.001-05:002009-04-02T12:26:15.811-05:00

Fako & Associates, Inc. would like to congratulate Supervisor-elect Mark Lesko in his overwhelming victory in the election for Brookhaven, New York Town Supervisor on March 31, 2009.F&A, Inc. worked with an incredibly talented group of consultants, campaign staff, and volunteers to develop the winning strategy that guided Lesko in securing 55% percent of the vote over Republican Timothy Mazzei.

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-92150670124636057592008-11-05T11:37:00.005-06:002008-11-05T11:48:08.983-06:00

Fako & Associates, Inc. would like to congratulate our winning clients in last night's historic election. We saw unprecedented victories in Missouri, New York, and our home state of Illinois.Our congratulations and thanks go out to the Democratic Party of Illinois for allowing us to help expand their majority in the Illinois House of Representatives with the victories of challengers Keith

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-45961151584782267742008-09-05T16:21:00.002-05:002008-09-05T16:29:36.136-05:00

The public, campaign professionals, news media organizations and interest groups are being inundated with polling results now that we are in the final stages of the 2008 election cycle. We are already witnessing reports about who is winning, losing, and why a candidate is stronger or weaker than the other as campaigns position for earned media and fund raising dollars.Party Identification (ID) is

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-85518088833910868582008-02-27T14:21:00.003-06:002008-02-27T14:28:22.779-06:00

Every pollster will tell you that political polls are a snapshot in time and at best consecutive polls can elicit trends, but should not be used to predict turnout or the outcome of an election. While the national attention is on how the pollsters got it wrong in several contests with surveys taken only days before an election, few are talking about how early surveying often-times gets things

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-70746456567182331512008-02-27T09:36:00.002-06:002008-02-27T09:48:32.851-06:00

Fako & Associates, Inc. congratulates Darrel Aubertine and the Aubertine campaign team for running a successful campaign that resulted in a 52.4% to 47.6% victory in New York's 48th Senate District. While some refer to the results as shocking, our strategic polling showed that victory was achievable, even with a staggering partisanship deficit of thirty thousand more Republican registrants.

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-39721085723187330342008-02-05T09:18:00.000-06:002008-02-05T11:33:21.839-06:00

Our polling and several national polls by other organizations have shown that the Iraq War is no longer the highest issue concern among likely voters. While still a major issue that could quickly rise to the top again given sufficient media attention, the War is being trumped by financial concerns about the stalling economy, foreclosures, raising taxes, and health care and prescription medicine."

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-35279515488399014502007-12-05T15:26:00.000-06:002007-12-11T13:35:31.398-06:00

Around this time of year you'll start to notice newspapers reporting "re-elect" numbers in their headlines and press releases and fundraising memos from candidates stating Congressman XX has a re-elect number of only XX% (Always way below 50%).They will arrive from a few different forms of questions...Thinking about the 'upcoming' election for U.S. Congress, do you think you will vote to reelect

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-31412974342541494322007-10-18T15:09:00.000-05:002007-10-18T15:17:58.543-05:00

Campaigns need a detailed analysis that highlights the key findings of a survey and interprets the findings into usable strategic recommendations. A good analysis always goes significantly more in-depth than the "slide show" presentations that have become popular in recent years. A quality analysis provides direction, focus and discipline to a campaign.Continuing our series on understanding

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-42838368501419707782007-09-14T13:05:00.000-05:002007-09-14T13:21:10.816-05:00

As we move deeper into the 2008 election cycle and campaigns at all levels gear up, we see a process issue debated within campaigns about how to properly manage a political campaign.There are essentially two models of operating a campaign, the "strong leader" and the "Campaign by Committee." The complex nature of modern campaigns and the finite period of time between inception and Election Day

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-78850660346414144542007-09-11T16:47:00.000-05:002007-09-11T16:51:05.430-05:00

Campaigns outside of major population centers, lower budget and local campaigns often rule out conducting strategic opinion surveys for two reasons: they think they can't afford a strategic survey and the candidate and/or staff believes they know the city or district where they are asking for votes. These mistakes set up local and lower budget campaigns for failure.While having a comprehensive

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-50085061741674142172007-08-28T16:21:00.000-05:002007-08-31T12:14:31.495-05:00

Cross Tabulation tables (often referred to as "cross tabs" or "tabs") numerically display the results of a survey, showing how the answers to one poll question break down according to the answers to another poll question or other data derived from the sample.Generally speaking, cross tabs are detailed statistical / numeric analysis of a survey, but in a raw, unfinished form. Your pollster will

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-50722530453766814792007-08-07T09:03:00.000-05:002007-09-20T11:50:39.052-05:00

Most successful endeavors require prior planning; a successful political survey is no exception. The quality of your survey is dependent upon the value of the information gathered before it is crafted. There are generally seven research components needed to develop a strategic survey. We will briefly outline these criteria, explain their significance in surveying, and simultaneously review the

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-40439283434169391222007-07-23T14:06:00.000-05:002007-07-23T14:16:33.475-05:00

Click here to see a video report about the signing!With the signing of Senate Bill 500 into law as the Smoke-Free Illinois Act, Fako & Associates, Inc. would like to congratulate all the organizations that have worked tirelessly to protect public health in Illinois. We especially thank the American Lung Association, who lead the Smoke Free effort around the state. We also would like to thank the

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-5676447362655387972007-07-18T12:48:00.000-05:002007-07-18T13:01:16.612-05:00

As we enter the presidential primary polling season articles are already surfacing questioning if cell-phone only users are distorting polling data. The common response to these allegations is that cell-phone only households account for 12.8% of US households, and their responses are not likely to be much different from their associated demographic group. Initial research has shown cell-phone

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-75090242978246789762007-06-04T13:29:00.000-05:002007-06-04T14:37:37.812-05:00

In 1998 and 2000, campaigns began using a technology called IVR (Interactive Voice Response). This technology was primarily used for traditional voter contact and GOTV calls -- and also widely implemented for surreptitious "push polls." It was only a matter of time before this technology would be used for polling. In 2002, we saw the first widespread use of this technology in polling --

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-71886866850354141902007-05-18T15:03:00.000-05:002007-05-21T11:21:15.449-05:00

To: Interested PartiesFrom: Fako & Associates, Inc.Re: Youth Voting Harvard University's Institute of Politics (IOP) was established in 1966 as a memorial to President John Kennedy and has engaging young people in politics and public service as its mission. I attended a conference at the IOP in March 2007 to discuss the preliminary findings of the Institute's youth survey

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-43993181163686843492007-05-11T10:48:00.000-05:002007-05-11T10:52:03.519-05:00

Fako & Associates, Inc. would like to congratulate Mayor Chuck Oberlie of Michigan City, Indiana in his recent election victory. Oberlie faced a three way race and prevailed over two significant candidates, one of which ran against Oberlie four years prior.Oberlie's 51% share of the vote is a convincing endorsement from the people of Michigan City. Oberlie has been constantly striving to bring

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-26467315763455510112007-05-02T09:22:00.000-05:002007-05-02T09:25:00.526-05:00

With the passage of Senate Bill 500, Fako & Associates, Inc. would like to congratulate all the organizations that have worked tirelessly to protect public health in Illinois. We especially thank the American Lung Association, who lead the Smoke Free effort around the state. We also would like to thank the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association for letting us be a part of

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-21764195166311023682007-05-01T09:44:00.000-05:002007-05-01T10:17:20.329-05:00

May 1, 2003 - President Bush declares victory in Iraq aboard an aircraft carrier bearing a victory banner.Today marks the fourth anniversary of when President Bush declared that major combat operations were over in Iraq and our “mission accomplished.”Bush’s declaration of victory was the equivalent of a football player prematurely spiking the ball on the ten yard line before he crossed the goal

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-46683368252617627562007-04-20T09:19:00.000-05:002007-04-20T09:20:17.595-05:00

In our congratulatory statement for the 2007 elections, we inadvertently listed several school board candidates as clients. Fako & Associates was happy to provide strategic services to People United for Responsible Education, who supported these successful candidates, but our services were provided independently of the candidate’s campaigns and our services were not coordinated, authorized or

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-23005260302080339882007-04-18T09:55:00.000-05:002007-04-20T08:15:01.952-05:00

Fako & Associates assisted the following campaign teams with political polling and other strategic services to develop winning strategies: Brendan Reilly who defeated incumbent Burt Natarus, the longest serving member of Chicago ’s City Council, in Chicago's 42nd Ward. Bob Fioretti who defeated incumbent Madeline Haithcock 66% to 34% in Chicago's 2nd Ward. Pat Dowell who defeated long

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-1151351920819953242006-06-26T14:56:00.000-05:002006-06-26T14:59:23.720-05:00

Gov. Rod Blagojevich has signed legislation that gives Illinois counties the ability to ban smoking in public places in unincorporated areas.Fako & Associates, Inc. supports smoke free efforts throughout Illinois.

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-1140631628873944272006-02-22T12:02:00.000-06:002006-04-27T10:47:15.566-05:00

Read about the proposal here: Lawmaker Wants Illinois to go Smoke FreeFako & Associates, Inc. supports the bill introduced by Rep. Annazette Collins (D-Chicago) that would prohibit smoking in all public places, including bars, taverns and bowling alleys. Secondhand smoke is a serious public health hazard.political polling

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19929052.post-1134755542115019332005-12-19T11:00:00.000-06:002005-12-27T12:59:40.953-06:00

Welcome to the first post of the Fako & Associates, Inc. blog. This blog is intended to disseminate information and create a dialogue about current issues affecting local, state, and national politics. There will not be any disclosure of polling results or client related information on this forum. A Recent Success: Secondhand smoke is a serious public health concern. Every year

Fako & Associates, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18233927268487825120noreply@blogger.com0