Poll asks some Nassau residents about Blakeman and his ties to Trump
The day after Memorial Day, some Nassau County residents got a text from Research-Polls, a Florida-based firm, asking their views on County Executive Bruce Blakeman and his relationship with President Donald Trump.
It’s a little early for horse race polls for this year’s county executive, district attorney and legislative races, but perhaps perfect timing to test the water on people’s views of their incumbent county executive. Local campaign operatives of both parties told The Point that the survey is trying to assess voter sentiment about Blakeman, particularly among independent voters who can make or break his bid for a second term. Nassau Democrats said the poll was not their doing while Republicans did not respond to a request for comment. The firm has conducted a similar text poll for former South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, who is now the secretary of homeland security in the Trump administration.
Here’s the money question: Which of the following statements best reflects your opinion of County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s leadership style?
The answer options are:
Research-Polls goes on to ask respondents whether they agree with the statement that Blakeman "should work with the Trump administration to get more federal funding to fight crime, to cut taxes, and to protect the environment."
In another slide, those taking the survey are asked to choose which view of Trump and his policies comes "CLOSEST" to their opinion:
Fill-in-the-blank questions ask respondents for the most important issue facing the county as well as what they like the MOST and then the LEAST about Blakeman.
The survey also asks for views on Gov. Kathy Hochul and Newsday, and the standard question of whether, as of now, they would vote for Blakeman or his opponent, Democrat Seth Koslow, as well as candidates for district attorney and county legislature.
National polls conducted after Trump’s "Liberation Day" tariffs sank the stock market found that Trump lost support among independent voters, perhaps the reason for Research-Polls asking Nassau residents whether they have more than $5,000 in stocks, bonds, IRAs or pension plans, which definitely reveals an out-of-towner asking about one of the wealthiest counties in the nation.
Credit: The Philadelphia Inquirer/John Cole
For more cartoons, visit www.newsday.com/maynationalcartoons
The Newsday editorial and cartoon from May 28, 1948.
The day on which Memorial Day has been observed has shifted over the years. Back in 1948, it took place on Monday, May 31. No matter the day, such holiday weekends then and now have meant more traffic on our roads and higher risk of accidents. Pre-weekend warnings about that danger and law enforcement admonitions to drive safely have long been de rigueur for newspapers around the country.
On May 28, 1948, Newsday’s editorial board lent its voice to the effort with a pre-Memorial Day piece called "Pleasure-Bent and Damned," which began with a series of questions:
"Do you often go to night clubs and race tracks? Do you play cards for money? Do you think you can drive an automobile after five drinks, or maybe 10? Do you believe in ‘luck?’"
If you answered yes, the board wrote, "you are a lousy driver and a menace on the highways."
The board was writing off a study by the Center for Safety Education of New York University that surveyed 186 licensed drivers, split evenly between people who had driven 100,000 miles without any traffic tickets or accidents and others who had multiple traffic violations and accidents. The questions were dictated by the data.
For all the study’s conclusions about personality traits and emotional stability, the board found that "the most important difference between the two classes of citizenry is that the good drivers stick to moderate speeds, while the other guys are in a hurry to go to hell and drive like bats out there."
The editorial was augmented with a cartoon titled "Start Now-Detour" that depicted two cars speeding on a road crossed by a billboard bearing a skull between the heading "DEAD END FOR RECKLESS SPEEDERS, HAREBRAINED IRRESPONSIBLES AND BRASH YOUTH" and the national auto accident toll for 1947 — 32,500 killed, 1,365,000 injured.
Nowadays, poker playing and racetrack attendance might not be considered proxies for bad driving, but Newsday’s concern for and coverage of traffic safety continues with the paper’s ongoing "Dangerous Roads" series. And the board’s observation back in 1948 about speed and its final admonition to readers has also proved timeless:
"We pass on this information to motorist readers as an appropriate thought for Memorial Day week end," the board wrote. "A moment of self-examination before people pile into the bus for [a] holiday outing may save somebody’s neck, or necks."
