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Anti-EV Pollster Recycles Op-Eds In Virginia, Delaware and RealClear To Say Be Nice To Gas Cars [1]

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Date: 2023-05-17

Yes the graphic is ugly and lazy, but so is the op-ed

Everyone should be encouraged to recycle, but recycling your own work without noting it's not new is called self-plagiarism, and it's the kind of thing that can get you expelled from colleges .

Apparently, though, when it comes to selling anti-EV opinions though, it's no big deal. We recently found a RealClearEnergy piece claiming that polling suggests Democratic politicians campaigning in 2024 shouldn't propose ending the gas engine. Upon looking for more information about its author, pollster Stefan Hankin, we instead found that he'd basically already written this piece — twice!

One was published in Delaware Online in March as part of the USA Today Network , and the first was published in February by the Richmond Times-Dispatch . All three share the same message, structure, and talking points, as well as many, many copy-pasted sentences .

All three articles include the introduction line that Hankin "was hired by a group called Centrist Democrats of America," though the RealClear and Delaware versions preface that with "With that in mind," while Virginia's does not. Both DE and VI versions continue with the phrase "to conduct a survey to determine how [Delawareans/Virginians] feel about EVs." The RealClear version states that he was hired "to gauge people's views across the country on what policies Democrats should – and should not – embrace to speed the adoption of electric vehicles, or EVs."

All three articles make the same main point: Sure, EVs are necessary for staving off climate catastrophe, but apparently you shouldn’t talk about requiring them in order to avoid political risks. Hankin writes, "But for Democrats, politically speaking, could they pay a price for pushing policies that would prevent [Americans/Delawareans/Virginians] from purchasing cars and trucks that run on fossil fuels?"

And here we see on full display the integrity and intellect of a centrist. Sure, maybe gas cars are killing us, but voters like 'em so guess we better drive ourselves into climate calamity! No attention is given to the idea that maybe the polling suggests that Democratic candidates need to improve their messaging on the issue, or that maybe the constant barrage of car ads and EV disinfo poses a hurdle to the climate policy that they acknowledge is vital.

Instead, Hankin runs through the poll findings in exactly the same way in each of the three articles, describing firstly a "hesitancy about the government banning the sale of new vehicles that use gas or diesel… a strong believe that the automotive market is heading in the right direction already…And second, there are other priorities for [Virginia/Delaware/Virginia] in general as well as for the environment/that they feel should receive time and focus."

To conclude, "the data is clear," Hankin wrote in RCE (as opposed to "Our analysis is clear" in the local papers), Delawareans/Virginians “are worried about the cost of gasoline and protecting the environment. Democrats in [Dover/Richmond] are smart to be in favor of EVs, but taking hardline positions like banning the sale of new gas-powered vehicles and implementing California's EV policies, [are/is] likely a step too far for a strong majority of [Delawareans/Virginians]."

Per RCE and Delaware Online, talking about transitioning away from gas-powered cars "creates a real risk of alienating centrist voters," which apparently got edited out of the VA version. But all three articles pick up in unison with the line that it risks "undermining environmental progress already [being] made."

Got that? Don't talk about making environmental progress, or you'll undermine environmental progress. Incredible advice, apparently needing to be repeated thrice!

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/17/2169823/-Anti-EV-Pollster-Recycles-Op-Eds-In-Virginia-Delaware-and-RealClear-To-Say-Be-Nice-To-Gas-Cars

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