The dying days of the Fourth Reich: it's the 2007 AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL ELECTION

very lovely. noting that her electorate offices are in NAILSWORTH

Yeah - the Libs would have their electorate office in UNLEY.

Speaking of Kate Ellis, not that I need any more encouragement to vote for her, but she sent me TWO fridge magnets today...compared to the shitty letter that the Fourth Reich sent to me yesterday.

Whatever who r you? *curious*

noting that her electorate offices are in NAILSWORTH

-- whatever

Ha! I just got that one. Took a while.

I thought it was because Nailsworth is home of The Big Scotsman??

Ah, the Big Scotsman. I used to live just up the road from that. It is truly hideous.

By the way, what DO you people here do on election night? Our tradition is having a few like-minded friends over, eating comfort food and getting horribly pissed to dull the pain (and it's been pain every time--the first election I was old enough to vote in was '96, when Howard got in).

Usually we watch the ABC and cry.

Last night I realised a couple of things:

1. Is the rate rise good for Labor? Given the amount of time and energy Rudd and his ministers have invested since Wednesday talking about it, I think that answers the question. Expect Labor swings. (Incidentally, Sportingbet's and Centrebet's odds are still fiercely against the Coalition.)

2. Everything Howard has gotten away with since 1996 is biting him on the arse right now. First indigenous affairs (the weird Damascus road conversion two days before he called the election), then the findings about Haneef's extradition being rigged, then his interest rate promise on Wednesday, and yesterday his refusal to say sorry. It's a bit like his life is flashing before our eyes. Expect more.

3. Last night on Lateline, Rudd mentioned being influenced by prime ministers including Whitlan, Hawke and Keating. If Latham or Beazley had mentioned any of them in a positive light, it'd have been political suicide. This more than anything indicates how much perceptions of Labor have changed since 2004.

Regarding sorry not being an apology: Howard's been playing this game for decades. He knows that if he says sorry in any context, the country will (a) see it as an apology and (b) will draw links to his stubbornness over the reconciliation issue.

The fact that Wednesday's "sorry" was definitely an apology, and that he is now definitely backpedalling, shows just how greatly he's lost his touch.

Oh, and he's blaming Labor for taking his "sorry" out of context, a statement which will piss off Labor, all the press and every voter with a mortgage.

http://www.pollbludger.com/689

"I am the Prime Minister, I am not an English teacher," Mr Howard said.

You're the one playing semantics, you ugly fuck.

Morgan's showing Labor gains (hurrrr) in its brand new polls. Its face-to-face poll shows a 22% lead. That's not a typo.

Also I think the Liberal party is considering taking its brand off handouts. IT'S OVER CUNCE.

So "go for growth", or whatever the fuck bullshit it was, is still being used by the libs?

22% lead = 61/39 split. I tried putting it into Antony Green's ABC election calculator but it literally goes off the scale. I forced it go the other way and it said 123 seats to 25.

xpost Yeah, because some mental in the strategy dept has decided ANY economic discussion is automatically a positive for the Coalition. Based on polling of course.

And here's the woman who got knocked over:

http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200711/r198876_758930.jpg

Oh fuck and he just walked away from her!!

There's your caring prime minister in action, two weeks from an election.

As Mr Howard was chatting to two elderly women, a young woman ran up behind him and screamed that he was a "scumbag".

"You will not be getting my vote," she yelled, prompting the two other women to assure the prime minister "you will be getting mine".

See, this is why ppl like my parents still vote liberal. They see idiots like this who scream abuse, link it IMMEDIATLELY with the left, and dismiss labor/greens as a bunch of insane morons.

re: pushing people over

Latham did basically the same thing and we thought it was great.

Of course we did - Latham's not Howard.

Did anyone see the doctored "Alien vs. Predator: Whoever Wins, We Lose" (with 'Latham' and 'Howard' replacing the names, done very convincingly) billboard(s) during the last election

They see idiots like this who scream abuse, link it IMMEDIATLELY with the left, and dismiss labor/greens as a bunch of insane morons.

Exactly. You won't see such attitude from gentlemen like Andrew Bolt, would you?

Oh yes, The Greens have a sing-a-long advertisement now. Gold!

I just found out that Malcolm Turnbull is a worse Environmental Minister than Rudolf Hess was - thanks, Shaun Micallef!

I think it is too late for me to register to vote for this.

If the latest Newspoll is any indication, none of us will need to vote.

There's only one Newspoll to go! That's got to be scaring the bejeezus out of the Coalition.

Today's the official launch. If it spends too much it's branded even less economically responsible; if it spends too little it's at risk of being shown up by Labor (which will probably be conservative (geddit) with spending).

Either way, the polls ain't changing, which tells me everyone's made up their mind and just given up listening. Even I'm sick of it. What's it now, 11 months?

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j171/mdanielwalter/img_197_p.jpg

^^^^^^^^
My Greens candidate who i could very well vote for because I dislike the Labor woman. He's what I like to call "eccentric".

nice hat

And that's a tame outfit for him :/

I thought the Greens were trying to move *away* from the 'crazy nutbar' image.

Not in Northern NSW.

Plenty of crazy nutbars on the global warming march yesterday. Nice ones though.

Quite a shift, after seeing Kevin Bloody Andrews at the Remembrance Day event. I didn't hear what he was saying (too far away) but he probably asked what all the nig-nogs were doing here.

Coalition launch in just under an hour! Being picketed by disabled protesters, which could make interesting viewing.

I predict another ALP policy.

(from the Coalition, I mean)

Are they waiting until Australia finishes off the Sri Lankans then? :)

Dunno. It's been going half an hour, but evidently all that's happened is Costello bagging out Labor again.

I can't wait to see what Howard does to scupper his own launch. Going by his track record and increasing panic he'll shit on the lectern and lick the finance minister.

Hey, apparently Vaile called Rudd's education revolution "communist." Then he said "OH NOES WE'VE WORN A HOLE IN THE BOTTOM OF THR BARREL"

"I want to be Prime Minister again" says Howard. I guess the "PLEEEEEEEEEEASE PLEEEEEEEEEEEEASE" begins next week then.

crikey update today, on the rofflicios spinning of dennis shanahan in the oz:

"All lovers of quality political spin should go out right now and buy, or preferably steal, today's edition of The Australian. It's a keeper.
With any luck, the political commentary will feature in Public Relations courses all over the world for years to come.

Dennis "Comical Ali" Shanahan continues his Sisyphean task of reinterpreting Newspoll's massive Labor lead as an imminent Howard victory. According to Shanahan, the comparative rating of Howard and Rudd as economic managers – about the only thing still in the Coalition's favour – is the important figure in the polling. Or, at least, it has been since Rudd became preferred Prime Minister. You'd never think there had been an angry debate just three months ago between Shanahan and bloggers over his insistence that preferred PM was the key indicator.

As to the trivial matter of the two-party preferred figure, the "interest rate backlash" bounce for Labor – as explained by Possum Comitatus last week – is there in all its glory. 55-45.

Lucky interest rate rises are such good news for the Government. Imagine how bad the polls would be if they weren't. Shanahan thinks it's not as bad as expected. Yes Dennis, it's only a flesh wound."

So how many weeks of this crap do we have left?

2

Howard's giant election-winning plan:

* Tax-free children's savings accounts to help save for first home

Once again he deftly manages to ignore everyone between the age of 10 and 50. Nice work fuckhead.

And isn't this a half-arsed version of what Rudd announced weeks ago?

* Education rebates of up to $2000 for secondary students

All secondary students? Or just private school ones?

And isn't this a half-arsed version of what Rudd announced weeks ago?

* Attacks Kevin Rudd as 'hollow leader' of 'hollow party'

Oooh I'm scared.

What a joke.

Geez. I made up my mind long ago, I just want it to be done now.

xpost

(xpost: me too)

Mr Howard also said the Government would speed up the release of Government land to increase the supply of new housing.

Labor's already announced that.

He also announced a plan to help fund infrastructure in new housing developments, which he claimed would reduce some of the charges faced by new home buyers.

To be absorbed into the price of properties?

The Prime Minister said his Government would also attempt to boost the number of child care places by helping fund new and expanded child care centres.

After how many years of ignoring pleas for greater capacity in child care?

"I want to pursue with relentless vigour the goal of full employment. Only the Liberal and Nationals parties talk about jobs for Australians any more."

Because 4.2% is low unemployment. Any lower and we're all doing 50 hours a week to cover for the staff we can't find.

"Australia needs an education system that teaches its children to read, write, spell and add up."

No mention of critical thinking again?

And who let the education system go in the first place? Or are we just blaming the states again?

"I believe in the family as the cornerstone of our happiness and our nation"

As long as you're not a big dirty poof, obviously.

"There are storm clouds gathering on the horizon when it comes to economic management."

Can't blame Labor for that after 11 years, can you?

I knew there'd be another ALP policy. What I didn't expect was wall-to-wall ALP policies. "Me-too" my arse.

T/S racism vs being a union member
T/S homophobia vs being a union member
T/S killing 90,000 Iraqis vs being a union member

sorry but I'm unusually cranky today

Where can a musician get in on this lark of providing a paint-by-numbers scary synth drone for these ads? All you do is hold one note down. I'll do that for a buck.

What about the noise that goes whhhuuuUUUUUMP <tinkle> when a bar graph hits the screen?

Sound FX library 101, baby.