Tomorrow’s Newspoll - as just reported on Lateline - basically contains no news. 55/45 to Labor on the 2PP, and 65/14 in Rudd’s favour on the PPM, with Nelson down a statistically insignificant 1 point. So a Poll with no News. Will News Ltd - who “own” the poll - report it this way? Or could we be about to have a perfect test case on the manufacture of confected commentary and non-existent news? Let’s see.
Update: There’s the usual poll deconstruction thread at The Poll Bludger, and there’s a somewhat more interesting poll out from Essential Media which shows a majority of Coalition voters disagreeing with Brendan Nelson’s proposition that Australia should wait on the rest of the world before acting on climate change.
Shanahan will dream up some sort of intepretation.
DWARF:
After a week of confused commentary from Dr Nelson, he has dropped one point in the CRUCIAL preferred photo opportunity polling [exclusive to the esteemed Organ for which I myself write], thus paving the way for the ascendancy of Viscount Turnbull, as fine a man as one is ever likely to meet: a man of many parts, raconteur, wit, analyst, senior counsel, the slayer of old Blighty in the “Spycatcher” case (adjudged by Emeritus Professor Albrechtsen to be one of the landmark cases for the law of journalism in Tasmania, if not the mainland), Treasury spokesman, designer of carbon trading schemes that would make your eyes water and your share portfolio accrue very real value; a merchant banker without the unsavoury connotations; an intellect of mighty proportions and modest to boot; a man who can wield the pre-selection stilletto deftly, who has the very stuff of leadership [is that enough words, Ed.??]
I predict a challenge at this months party room meeting.
How can a politician’s popularity decline from 15%?
There has been an onslaught from the Murdochist forces ( well, that’s what they really are! ) the intensity of which has only been exceded by the sheer stupidity as to choices of issues.
Like the Iraq thing for the neo-cons, there has been this vast amount of effort and resources spent, only for things to deteriorate even further.
Phenomenal, isn’t it, particularly as to what it says about the consequences of wilfully living in denial.
Update: There’s the usual poll deconstruction thread at The Poll Bludger, and there’s a somewhat more interesting poll out from Essential Media which shows a majority of Coalition voters disagreeing with Brendan Nelson’s proposition that Australia should wait on the rest of the world before acting on climate change.
The title of your post may be right in more ways than one, Kim. Interestingly, there’s no sign of Dennis on the OO’s web site today. The commentary on the Newspoll results is provided by Matthew Franklin. Maybe Dennis has gone on leave with Brendan?
But the “Blogs” page on the OO’s site appears to have undergone a major pruning as well - down to just seven columnists, with Shanahan, Sheridan, Phillip Adams, and many others gone. I wonder whether they are shifting their strategy about allowing comments on opinion pieces so that only the columnists who really got into the blogging mentality and responded to comments - such as MegaGeorge, Planet Janet, and the recently resurrected Caroline Overington - are labelled as “bloggers”. The fact is, the comments threads on the work of hacks like Dennis Shanahan became a collection of mockery interspersed with the occasional word of support for young Dennis (which I always took to be sarcasm). I always worried about what impact reading their comments would actually have on Shanahan, Sheridan et al.
Tim Watts has noted that the pollies differ in their understanding that blogging is about conversation with the readers, and I think the OO’s columnists have been much the same.
Maybe the NonGG commentariat have done themselves out of a job.
That Essential Research survey here.