Patrick Caddell

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Patrick Hayward Caddell (also Pat or Patrick H.) (born May 19, 1950, in Rock Hill, South Carolina) is an American public opinion pollster and a political film consultant.

He has worked for Democratic presidential candidates George S. McGovern in 1972 and Jimmy Carter in 1976.

He has served as a consultant to various movies and television shows, most notably the movies Running Mates, Air Force One, Outbreak, In the Line of Fire, and the serial drama The West Wing. In addition, he has served as second unit director or assistant director of filmography for A Passage to India, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Superman: The Movie.

Despite the fact that no Democratic campaign has officially recruited Pat Caddell in years, he continues to be identified as a Democratic pollster,[1][2][3] often stating that "he never left the party, but the current leaders of the party left him and many other 'Roosevelt' Democrats".^{[cite this quote]} Caddell has actively avoided working in or consulting for political campaigns since the mid 1980's, choosing instead to focus on working in Hollywood.^{[citation needed]}

His analysis on polls and campaign issues often puts him at odds with the current leadership of the Democratic Party. He has been criticized as often attacking Democratic politicians and predicting the downfall of the Democratic party.[4] Critics point out that he has defended the Bush administration by claiming that Republicans did not exploit the issue of gay marriage in the presidential election of 2004; however, Republicans pushed for ballot initiatives to ban the practice in every swing state in the country to drive religious conservatives to the polls. He also referred to Democrats in the House who voted against the Palm Sunday Compromise, which sought to reinstate Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, as "cold blooded" and denounced them.

On March 5, 2007, Caddell appeared on Fox News and defended Ann Coulter from criticism after calling John Edwards a faggot.

[edit] Quotes

"The Democratic party...has been hijacked by a confederacy of gangsters..."

"And I’ll tell you those seats in the south, I predict[ed] in the spring will probably go." - Referring to the Democratic-held open seats in the American South. He was incorrect, as Blanche Lincoln easily won re-election in Arkansas.[5]