Politicos Gather to Hear David Binder’s Analysis – With Many Happy ProgressivesPaul Hogarthbyline‚ Nov. 09‚ 2006It’s a San Francisco tradition for local political junkies to gather at the SPUR Office on the day after an election to hear pollster David Binder’s analysis of the results. What was not traditional this year was the sheer exuberance that progressives felt about Supervisor Chris Daly’s hard-earned re-election victory. Roughly half the attendees showed up wearing bright green Daly t-shirts, eager to gloat about an election where the local and national outcome was extremely favorable for progressives. John Avalos, Daly’s chief of staff, could not contain his delight when the crowd filtered in to take their seats, as he led an impromptu chant of “Whose City?” “Our City!” Local progressives rallied around Daly’s campaign three weeks ago when David Binder came out with a poll showing him ten points behind Rob Black. I asked Binder before he began his presentation if that infamous poll was conducted by telephone, and he replied that it was. When I pointed out that the vast majority of SRO tenants don’t have phones, he said that he knew that – and that he had warned people at the time that the poll under-estimated residential hotels. Daly won the election by ten points, in part because SRO tenants supported him by a 10-1 margin. |