Shortly after announcing she would be candidate, a poll for the RTL 4 News estimated that 56% of the people preferred Verdonk as the leader of the VVD. Rita Verdonk was advised by Kay van de Linde, who also played a part in anti-immigration politician Pim Fortuyn 's 2002 election campaign, which was cut short by his assassination on May 6. Several of **her** statements and policies seem to exploit xenophobic emotions in the country, according to her opponents.