Peter Hart
The Strategist
The long view, patient, analytical, playing several moves ahead.
Peter Hart is a seasoned pollster and political strategist with over fifty years of experience in opinion research. This interview reveals his ability to cut through the noise of political discourse, focusing on what truly matters in understanding voter behavior and campaign dynamics.
“Well, focus groups to me are a chance to get down below. What numbers do is they give you a statistical sense of where the public's at. Focus groups are qualitative. They are not a cross-section. They can't be looked at numerically in any respect. But what I'm trying to get to is not what's in their head, but what's down in their gut.”
“Sure. I mean, we were racially sensitive. And by the way, I should mention your mother and her influence on your life. And for me, the same kind of thing. So the conversations that you would have. Second thing that is so important to understand is speed.”
“But now I'm No, what I would tell you is that as a friend, but as somebody that views you from afar, two things. One, the sense of depth and feeling of issues that make a difference and how society moves. You look at the country is so good and you get to the small towns and you get everywhere and you start to understand the future.”
“Exactly right. And at the same time, Khrushchev was kicked out, and the Kremlin, and the third thing that happened is China tested an H-bomb. So you can imagine in the course right in the middle of a presidential fall election, all of those things happen. And Lou said, we have to get out and do a poll right now.”
The Axe Files with David Axelrod — Ep. 78 - Peter Hart
LISTEN AT THE SOURCE ↗THE RECORD IS CHECKABLE