Upgraded to php5 and import no longer works

I run a script that pulls down Las Vegas odds from a script. It had been running fine for over a year, then I needed to upgrade to php5 for another site on the same server, and now the script has issues. I believe it has something to do with how php5 handles array_merge now, but not sure...here is how I import the node.

//first create the node properly...

node_validate($node);
$error = form_get_errors();
if (!$error ) {
        $node = node_submit($node);  

      node_save($node);
} else {
        print_r($error);
}

For whatever reason, it messes up my node...example

//before node_validate

    [field_poll_spread] => Array
        (
            [active] => 1
            [runtime] => 1227576900
            [question] => Who to Bet?
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [choice] => Green Bay Packers (Off)
                    [votes] => 0
                )

            [1] => Array
                (
                    [choice] => New Orleans Saints (Off)
                    [votes] => 0
                )

        )

...After node_validate

    [field_poll_spread] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [question] => Who to Bet?
                    [runtime] => 1227576900
                    [active] => 1
                    [choice] => Green Bay Packers (Off)
                    [votes] => 0
                )

            [1] => Array
                (
                    [question] => Who to Bet?
                    [runtime] => 1227576900
                    [active] => 1
                    [choice] => New Orleans Saints (Off)
                    [votes] => 0
                )

        )

... After node_submit

    [field_poll_spread] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [question] => 
                    [runtime] => 
                    [active] => 
                    [choice] => Green Bay Packers (Off)
                    [votes] => 0
                )

            [1] => Array
                (
                    [question] => 
                    [runtime] => 
                    [active] => 
                    [choice] => New Orleans Saints (Off)
                    [votes] => 0
                )

        )

I believe I've tracked it down to the content.module and specifically the function _content_widget_invoke('process form values', $node);

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.