Comments on: Newspoll: 57-43

By: Kakuru

Kakuru — Thu, 22 May 2008 04:53:56 +0000

#77

Classified – Sure, it was a wank; but I think you’re giving the Libs too much credit by suggesting it was deliberate strategy. As the chief headkicker/bovver-boy of the parliamentary Libs, Minchin is known to be aggro about Downer & Costello sitting interminably on the backbench, offering their lofty opinions (even when they’re not solicited) but not much else. (Kind of like Waldorf and Statler, without the sense of humour.) So a spat doesn’t need to be contrived.

By: Geoff Robinson

Geoff Robinson — Wed, 21 May 2008 04:40:35 +0000

McEwen:
Richard Tracey is the judge. H R Nicholls Society, RC into the Construction Industry etc. etc.
I heard somewhere he has NCC ties and he might have appeared for the FCU groupers agaisnt Tanner.

By: charles

charles — Tue, 20 May 2008 11:34:13 +0000

Watcher

Which Liberal ex minister should leave politics first? Good question, Costello is a good answer.

By: Classified

Classified — Tue, 20 May 2008 07:24:11 +0000

A spat has broken out between SA stablemates Downer and Minchin over the former’s imminent retirement. Minchin spilled the beans this morning on ABC radio, and now Downer’s having a hissy fit.

To me that whole wank was pure "The West Wing". The Opp needed something to break the whole Nelson/Turnbull nightmare They tried to break the news cycle and it sorta worked

By: Watcher

Watcher — Tue, 20 May 2008 05:41:01 +0000

If Costello is the answer, people are asking the wrong question. That seems to be the lot of an Opposition though; “well that’s enough about me, what do you think – about me”?

By: Gary Bruce

Gary Bruce — Tue, 20 May 2008 03:00:20 +0000

Why do people think Costello is the answer? He behaved like a schoolboy the other day at his doorstop interview. Sorry to all those sensible schoolboys out there. I say bring him on, Rudd needs a bigger majority. The press love him but the average Joe thinks he’s a gutless clown. Anytime anyone can produce a poll showing he’s popular I’ll stand corrected but don’t bother trying to find one from the past, they don’t exist.

By: Kakuru

Kakuru — Tue, 20 May 2008 02:11:52 +0000

To add to Zoom’s hypothesis, there’s another strand to this news cycle. A spat has broken out between SA stablemates Downer and Minchin over the former’s imminent retirement. Minchin spilled the beans this morning on ABC radio, and now Downer’s having a hissy fit.

By: zoom

zoom — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:10:02 +0000

On media strategy:

You can just imagine the conversation in Liberal HQs across the nation: “Look, guys, I know things look grim, but we’re dominating the news cycle. Sure, a lot of it’s negative stuff, but it’s keeping our name out there.”

In Rudd’s: “People don’t want to hear about us. They just want to know that the government is governing. No news is good news.”

The media, of course, want the first approach: news at any cost, it fills columns and sells papers.

I would argue that the average Aus wants the second. They’re not interested in politics and they don’t want to be. They just want the job done.

By: grace pettigrew

grace pettigrew — Mon, 19 May 2008 21:12:08 +0000

On the McEwen dispute, Rob Mitchell’s reported comment just about sums it up (and provides a convenient headline grab when the case is over): “It’s a long-standing legal principle that you take into account the voters’ intention. It’s not a handwriting test.”

If the court awards the election to the ALP (as all indications so far suggest it should), then this will be the first electoral case of this kind, where the responsible authority, the AEC, broke its own rules on formality. Shame.

This suggests there should be a further reference to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, when the case is finalised, to find out why.

First witness before the JSCEM would have to be the man who made these biased formality decisions during the recount, the Australian Electoral Officer for Victoria, Daryl White, appointed by the Howard Government.

By: charles

charles — Mon, 19 May 2008 20:29:28 +0000

Oil is a diminishing resource, the way to cut you fuel bill is to buy a smaller car, not to harp on asking the government for tax cuts. Five cents or ten cent cut is bad policy.