White House Privately Pushing Data Showing Bush Tax Cut Extension Politically Popular

This could be more accurately be described as a 'push poll'.

Its purpose is to influence the public.  To provoke those who are not well-infor­med (the "mushy middle" as I call them, the Independen­t voters who make up their minds about who to vote for at the last possible moment, on who got to them the moment before they entered the voting booth), the "If everyone else is for it, then I suppose it's a good thing"-cro­wd.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost