Davis authorizes poll, collecting information for possible rematch with Roe

Published January 23rd, 2010 | Kingsport Times-News

Davis said he did the poll to collect information he’ll use in trying to decide whether he’ll go up against Roe in the 2010 GOP primary.

Davis promised he’ll be announcing his decision very soon.

“I posed valid questions based on real votes ... the (poll) numbers tell me I could win,” Davis said.

Roe defeated Davis in the 2008 Republican primary by fewer than 500 votes, and Davis claimed Roe’s win was fueled by crossover Democrats.

Roe, who attended Saturday’s Times-News Farm Expo at the MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center, characterized Davis’ poll as a “push poll” — a political technique used to influence people rather than find out their opinions.

“People thought I was doing the poll and I was not, and don’t intend to do one for a while. ... It was obviously what we call a push poll,” Roe said. “I can set up a poll that said ‘Would you vote for David Davis if you knew he voted for the largest tax increase in Tennessee history (Davis voted for a sales tax increase over an income tax in 2002 when he served as a state representative)?’ ... (but) it’s not relevant to what’s going on in Washington.”

Davis claimed Roe did “the same kind of poll” on him two years ago.

“He asked if people knew if I had served in the military, and because of a childhood illness I couldn’t serve in the military,” Davis said of Roe’s poll tactics in 2008. Roe is a U.S. Army veteran.

Davis pointed to a vote Roe cast last July to include $2.2 billion in military assistance to Israel but also had $648 million going to “international family planning funding.”

“If I decide to move forward, all that would come out in a campaign,” Davis said of Roe’s vote.

In response, Roe blamed President Barack Obama’s decision to lift the prohibition on tax dollars for overseas abortions through an executive order.

Roe is a retired obstetrician/gynecologist and claims to have delivered about 5,000 babies during his career.

On Friday, Roe participated and spoke at the 37th annual March for Life rally attended by pro-life activists — with many of them coming to Washington, D.C., every year since 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Roe v. Wade case.

“Life is a precious miracle from God that begins at conception,” Roe said in a release marking his participation in the rally. “It’s our responsibility and privilege as legislators to protect those who do not have a voice. I will always fight for the right to life because it is my conviction that we are all unique creations of a God who knows us and loves us before we are even conceived.”

The 1st Congressional District hasn’t elected a Democrat to go to Washington, D.C., in more than 100 years.

Former U.S. Rep. David Davis said Saturday he authorized a recent 1st Congressional District poll including talking points that suggest current U.S. Rep. Phil Roe has supported abortion.