Word: wirthlin
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Reagan returned from Texas at mid-week to prepare for Sunday's encounter with John Anderson. He studied an image-molding memo from Pollster Richard Wirthlin with advice that gave an insight into his whole campaign. Some examples: "The Governor is perceived to be a leader. But it will be important that he comes across as less distant, more sympathetic, more caring, and more understanding . . . Show the Governor is capable of enjoying a laugh . . . Keep answers short, even on complex issues...
...advisers, reviewing their daily telephone samplings, insisted that their stand was not hurting them as much as had been reported. Says Caddell: "It's the right position. We constantly review it, but every time we come up with the same answer." His counterpart, Reagan Pollster Richard Wirthlin, disagrees, saying that Carter "is wearing a black hat" and will end up taking "a great deal of heat...
Where negotiations on future debates will go from here is still uncertain. Reagan has not yet turned down the three invitations accepted by Carter from groups wanting to sponsor head-on encounters. Says Wirthlin: "We're not of a mind to preclude further debates." But Powell said last week: "There's a growing feeling around here that there may never be a one-on-one debate." The White House believes that Reagan, despite his claims to the contrary, does not want to duel the President. If there is no debate between Carter and Reagan this year, the voters...
...Wirthlin began building up his mass of data-currently called PINS (Political Information System)-in 1968 when he conducted his first polls for Reagan, who was preparing to run for re-election as Governor of California. In the years since, Wirthlin has been expanding the bank steadily, adding dollops of census data and studies of voting history to the results of his own polling. In the latest survey, finished just before Labor Day, Wirthlin's agents interviewed 7,000 people, five times the size of the typical Gallup or Harris sample, investigating not only overall preferences but trends...
...equally important element in Wirthlin's system is a technique called tracking: constantly repelling small groups of key voters to catch developing shifts in opinion. Says he: "Tracking allows you to watch a campaign almost the same way you watch a movie...