Morgan’s latest survey combines two sets of phone polling conducted in the middle of this week and last week, producing an unusually large sample of 2231. Normally their phone poll figures consist of only one such set of polling. It shows Labor leading 60.5-39.5 per cent on two-party preferred – down from 61-39 at the phone poll of March 11-12, and from 63.5-36.5 in the more recent face-to-face survey released last week.
Reflections on the Miracle of Democracy at Work in the Greatest Nation on Earth
Morgan: 60.5-39.5
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314 Comments
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onimod ,
Glen’s furiously trying to “Google” it to find out what it is.
Maybe a journalist or two still have some hope….
Rock-Bottom Loser Entertaining Offers From Several Religions
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/rock_bottom_loser_entertaining
Couldn’t agree more with this and what do I say…but please all be well.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/john-button-the-best-pm-we-never-had/2008/04/04/1207249457714.html
66
ruawake Says:
April 4th, 2008 at 8:50 pm As someone who used to stand behind a camera when Gough Whitlam gave his weekly press conferences (CTC-TV Canberra)
Wasn’t behind a camera, but typing, stop, typing – great memories!!!!
Apologies for comment moderation delays. All unlocked now.
Sad news to read about John Button above, I have always regarded him as one of the truly decent men of politics, such a rare commodity!
Kina, had a good laugh at the Onion story, who said the Yanks can’t do satire?
While I was there I spotted this classic, Diebold accidentally releases the 2008 election results early, good for a chuckle:
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/diebold_accidentally_leaks
Another excellent article by George Mega on the cultural warriors left and right, I guess I can forgive the ‘Australian’ some of their sins while they still keep George on staff:
http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/meganomics/index.php/theaustralian/comments/warriors_of_the_bore_war/
Glen
Re my comment @ 53.
Sorry if you think it implied that Rudd had made these things happen. My point was that “call me Brendan” has not commented on the meeting – just the salute.
Glen 87
“…i thought there were some intelligent left wingers but ruawake is making you all look stupid….”
So you basically throw everyone into one of the three or four pots that are available in your limited thinking, stir them up until they’re completely blended and then you label the pots “Good’ ‘Bad’ and so on?
Looking at stories this morning on Mr Costello being pushed to challenge for the leadership my thoughts are this would’ve been a good idea if he hadn’t already gone through the whole “I’m leaving” schtick.
I honestly think they need someone with his force in the leadership for a while. Nelson is really like limp lettuce unfortunately.
However, Costello can’t be it because he’s now been seen to have been offered the ball, looked the other way and run as fast as he can.
Ah yes, but he was offered the ball by Howard. He didn’t want Howard’s hand me downs.
Now he’s been off in the wilderness, proving to the parliamentary party that they need him more than he needs them. (He may have also realised that to stay on the backbench means continuing to live on a backbencher’s salary, as noone else is making him a better offer).
Being begged to come back as the only person who can save the party from extinction is the sort of look Costello likes.
He has always wanted the leadership to be handed to him on a platter, so that everyone knows that he doesn’t have to take it but is acting for the greater good and putting his own interests last.
You can almost see the smirk as he accepts it now.
LTEP @ 111 – I agree that Costello would look extremely foolish if he challenged now.
However, I haven’t been convinced he’s really going, and I’m still not. It seems pretty clear that his phone hasn’t been ringing off the hook with lucrative board positions so his main options seem to be returning to the bar, or staying on and maybe ‘heroically’ stepping up to the plate towards the end of next year to save the party from a certain crushing defeat in 2010/11.
He would be able to bring in the changes he always wanted to SmirkChoices: removing awards and minimum rates of pay etc.
It is almost at the stage where the ALP is too far out in front for its own good. They really would love a double dissolution but aren’t going to get one if they are 20% ahead. There is no chance the Liberals in the Senate are going to oppose anything if they fear being wiped out off the map (6 or 5 per state to 4 or 5 could be the result in a double dissolution).
The Greens would love a double dissolution as it would mean a rise to at least 7 or 8 Senators. Except them to make a lot of noise about how both major parties are the same when the Liberals support ALP legalisation (or as Julie Bishop would call it “Not-Opposing”).
Xenophon is probably not going to be worried by a double dissolution. In fact he is likely to benefit from one as it might mean he won’t have to do any preference deals at all.
Family First’s role would be interesting. They might do rather well at a double dissolution if they are lucky and are in front of a Liberal final quota. The problem for Fielding himself is the place where that might happen might not be Victoria but SA or NSW.
I bet Nelson is stamping his little foot with jealousy
“KEVIN RUDD is facing unprecedented demand for his time during his four days in China next week with his office receiving more than 200 requests from TV stations and other outlets for interviews.”
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/china-media-stampede-for-mandarinspeaking-pm/2008/04/03/1206851105827.html
1) Salutegate? Nah, more like Trivial Salute.
2) Was I the only one that cringed when our fraternal Fran interviewed Jimmy Webb a few mornings ago on Breakfast? The veteran performer was seated at a piano in an ABC studio. The gushing Fran’s final question was “Do you still perform?”
Four serious questions:
1) Was this suitable material for such a primetime programme?
2) Has anyone else noticed a severe decline in her capabilities of late?
3) Is Fran more like a ‘host’ than a ‘journalist’?
4) Is this sympomatic of the modern ABC?
If Howard saluted Bush you’d all have made just as big a deal as we’ve done!
Hypocrisy springs to mind…
118 [Hypocrisy springs to mind…]
Of course it would Glen when hypocrisy is the sole content of that mind.
Glen
the salute was initiated by Bush
Go google ’salute’ as Scorpio suggested.
Also note how Rudd was not dressed in crisp navy whites, that he didn’t stand to attention, and had a big cheesy Tin Tin grin.
Get back to us with the fruits of your research, and let us know what you’ve learnt.
It’s not about Howard – he’s yesterday’s embarrassing news. It’s about Nelson and the gossip columnists auditioning for a job at Entertainment Tonight.
So Glen are you admitting this slauting BS is just that, BS, a non story?
Make that “saluting”
Gerard Henderson thinks the salute is starting to cause real trouble for Australia out there in foreign affairs land. Is this guy for real?
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23486034-662,00.html
Sounds like another conservative ‘commentator’ suffering RDS – Relevance Deprivation Syndrome. Symptoms: shrillness, nitpickiness, hyperbole, bitterness. There’s been an epidemic of this since the rodent party was thrown out.
Looks like the Queensland coalition brawling is beginning to migrate Federally.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23485505-3102,00.html
Gary, did you mean to say Gerard McManus? There’s nothing in that article about Henderson.
Thanks William, you’re right. It is Gerard McManus. I find he is just as anti Labor in most of his articles.
What, as opposed to Howard dissing the UN to assist Bush’s unilateral wars at a whim program? Or Howard failing to ratify Kyoto for a decade? What, now because basically Bush and Rudd acknowledge each other (lets state what it really was) across a crowed room the UK and Russia etc are aghast!
That primary school piece of ‘journalism’. These people must truly be an a fantasy world where they intensely search for the slightest thing they can promote as large negative of Rudd. Lost total touch with reality.
It does indicate that many Murdoch journalists and editors were far too intimate and controlled by Howard and, now have a twisted unreal perspective of the world where Rudd is their enemy.
You really do have to wonder at the editorial quality at the Herald Sun if they let this sort of thing pass as a story. You would think any decent paper would be truly embarrassed to publish that sort of nonsense.
Rudd is away on what has been away on successful trip so far….these people believe it is there job to discredit the trip and try and take as much gloss of it as possible.
Ross @ 177: “TRIVIAL SALUTE”
Ave Ross!
I agree 100% Kina. I’ve e-mailed McManus a few times and, to his credit, received a reply each time. He rejects the notion of bias of course but any fair minded person knows it’s there. Feel free.
McManus, Gerard
Let me try that again – McManusG@heraldsun.com.au
On Rudd’s half salute: He does that all the time, he did it on Election night. It’s not a salute, it is the Rudd wave.
I think that the ’salute’ thing is actually a very Queensland mannerism. I see it and do it as a friendly gesture every day of my life. Don’t know about the other states because I rarely venture interstate.
steve
I do a similar thing as well. I am originally a POM, lived in the ACT, NSW, VIC, ACT and for the past decade QLD. I think it is a non-verbal sign of mutual respect.
117
Ross
Her interview with Jimmy Webb was cringe worthy.
Webb is seated at the piano ready to play whatever she requested and she was prepared to pless play on the CD machine instead. You’re correct, she is a breakfast host with barely a glimmer of jouralist to be seen.
133 + 134 the salute
I rarely refer to my own actions or direct experiences as they’re pretty irrelevant in the the context of a principled argument or debate, but I’m a saluter too.
I particularly salute to my friends fathers or, and this is the one that really gives me amusement in relation to the Ruddsters actions, I use the salute to acknowledge my peers across a room who I really can’t be bothered walking over to talk to.
If we still had hats it would be the equivalent of tipping the lid.
The big issues again take precedence with the media and the small mind of Brendan Nelson, who cares about some trivial salute.
By contrast, Richard Glover did an interview with Jimmy Webb on the ABC Sydney Drive program last week and it was great.
Webb sat and trilled away, sang some beautiful songs, laughed, joked and clearly enjoyed himself. Brilliant radio.
Glover is a bit clumsy sometimes, and can be infuriating with his “some people say…” questions, but he really knows how to use the resources of those Ultimo studios well. He’s single-handedly brought back live radio to the mainstream, and to good effect.
He the best presenter, overall, the ABC have got on Local Radio and he gets the appropriate ratings.
(And it’s taken me a long time listening to his show to be able to say that. At first I couldn’t stand him).
If Obama gets elected and puts Gore on the greenhouse gasses issue as he said he would (AL accepting of course) that will assist Rudd no end for the impetus to proceed as planned and, also in the PR and information / misinformation battle that the mineral and energy companies are just starting.
Al was a big fan of Labor’s attentiveness to the issue and a respected figure I believe. I can see Al throwing some weight behind Rudd on the issue and giving a quiet hand in some way. The Liberals & Howard on the other hand were pretty rude to Al when he was last here.
It will be interesting if it happens to see what it comes to. It would have to be positive for Rudd. I can just see the OO and Co getting ready their trivial attacks on Gore just in case.
Did anyone see the ABC news? What does Chris Ulmann (?) concentrate on? Rudd making a couple of errors in a speech and how tired he must be. Give us a break.
Ulhman searches for something negative to say on Rudd at each report but you can see he is getting fairly frustrated and needs to resort to the lame off hand comment.
Uhlman was the guy on ABC radio in a long preamble who compared Rudd’s possible election with the lending your keys to your new Ferrari to someone you didn’t know that well..that you would be shaking. He got a promotion to TV no doubt due to the thought police being happy with his obvious dislike of Rudd.
On another note I do agree with Mike Carlton that Rudd needs to change or at least mix up his talk patterns and needs to be much more direct and forceful in speaking as PM. He only need to look at a number of previoius PMs to know the stuff to use.
“Lost in translation – write stuff could make difference for Rudd”
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/lost-in-translation–write-stuff-could-make-difference-for-rudd/2008/04/04/1207249457717.html
“MEANWHILE, Please-call-me-Brendan-I-prefer-Brendan has been traipsing around the country on his listening tour, leaving little bits of information scattered in his wake like Hansel and Gretel’s trail of breadcrumbs.”
Kini
I read a writer who claimed the electorate is more intelligent than the average commentator gave it credit for, and that the average voter is willing to accept there are ambiguities and grays in political discussions. Given that the commentators believe the prime ministers hand gestures was the important topic in the last 24 hours I suspect that the average voter is more intelligent than the average commentator.
What I find strange is Rudd has just won an elections and has taken the polls to places they have never been before and yet people keep coming up with truck loads of advise on what he should be doing.
I suspect the people giving the advice should be looking at what he is doing because it seems to be working.
Well, well, well, our man Kev saluted Bush and has sparked an international incident (well that’s the impression you get from the MSM anyway). My goodness me, this surely ranks with the assasination of the old Arch-Duke at Sarajevo for treachery. The implications of this incident are enormous. I’m telling you folks, the precursor to World War III has happened and its all Kev’s fault.
Seriously though, this balderdash that masqerades as journalism should be exposed for what it is. Utter crap.
charles,
I only half agree with you about what Rudd is doing.
The PM has a tendency, at times, to talk complete gobbledegook (exemplified in the quote in Mike Carlton’s column this morning). You are right in saying this hasn’t hurt him so far, and the polls and everything else have been fantastic. But it could well hurt him in future, especially when he has to make unpopular decisions.
I wonder if Labor will respond to the allegations in Ramsey’s column of today. If Ramsey is right, what they have done is straight out of the odious NSW ALP playbook.
Poss, been out to lunch. so yes you’re quite right. Fafblog was not the correct descriptor.
Giblets and the Medium Lobster could help the man with 6 guitars, an ex-earring, 2 ex-wives and an ex-party?
Glen, I understand you’re pain in relation to dysfunctional State Libs. It’s cruel. It’s real. Could you help by going on Brendon’s Magical Listening Tour with him? Help pack the groceries? Help pump gas?
Kina, Uhlmann has long form in relation to his reporting of Labor and Rudd. I don’t trust him.
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