Comments on: That other race

By: Jacques de Molay

Jacques de Molay — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:01:48 +0000

I just took it as Bob Ellis sticking up for his mate Kevin Rudd. I’ve always considered Ellis a lightweight (ha!) and a complete pig, best friend the Liberal Party could ever have. Hopefully someone there at ALP central remembers to keep the basement locked next time.

By: The Poll Bludger

The Poll Bludger — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:52:47 +0000

I don’t quite know what to say to someone who thinks Bob Ellis’s article is an “interesting take”. It’s total bullshit from beginning to end, and serves only to illustrate what an utter fraud he is.

By: tssk

tssk — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:12:38 +0000

The problem is that is appears that Ellis has relied on his memory for some of the past facts in setting the frame for the debate. While I have no doubt it was an honest mistake it does allow the right wingers an easy goal thus aloowing them to render anything that follows as inaccurate.

By: joe2

joe2 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:27:06 +0000

Given the extreme interest the general media place on the Newspoll results, Ellis has some fair questions to ask about its methodology and the risk of it being compromised, in the light of its owners obvious favouritism for the far right cause. Ultimately, it is just another Murdoch money making tool.

And PeterTB, I have a cheese in my fridge from The King Island Dairy, covered in a blue mould, that I plan to eat tonight combined with a nice wine. I swear it looks most “interesting”.

By: PeterTB

PeterTB — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:12:00 +0000

Bob Ellis has an interesting take

Bob Ellis is interesting in the same way as mould on cheese is interesting. He writes like he is deranged.

By: joe2

joe2 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:46:59 +0000

tssk, are you suggesting that because Tim Blair has “disected”(sic) the Ellis article -in a most superficial and lazy manner, I would say- that it is somehow, now, made less relevant?

By: tssk

tssk — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:14:40 +0000

Good points Helen but unfortunately during my trawl of the right wing trollumists this morning one that has been disected already by Tim Blair.

By: David Irving (no relation)

David Irving (no relation) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:47:26 +0000

Helen, I think that (not ringing mobiles) was why the pre-election polls in the US didn’t show Obama doing as well as he eventually did.

By: Helen

Helen — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:11:55 +0000

Bob Ellis has an interesting take here.

Anyone can see you can get the polling numbers you want if you ring no mobile phones and ring homes when younger people are out. You ring Friday nights when only the ill, the old, the loveless, the friendless and mad are at home and, sure, you’ll get a Liberal majority. You ring Saturday morning when the soccer mums are out and the grandmothers are at home and you’ll get a Liberal majority. You ring Sunday night when most people are at home and you’ll get a fair sample. If you do all these (as Newspoll does, ringing no mobile phones, hell no) you’ll get the Liberal-weighted number Rupert desires.

Getting a Liberal tsunami might require, however, more effort. You can do it by ringing on a holiday weekend when the Labor voters are on holiday and the old, the ill, the loveless, friendless and mad are at home. Or you can ring 1190 households and select only 1149 of them.

Is there anything to prevent Newspoll from doing this? An auditor? An ombudsman? A government inspector? Another way you can do it is to provide, not a snapshot of a single weekend, but an overview of two months. Newspoll did this with Nathan Rees lately, 1149 respondents spread over eight weeks in September and October. What hours of those weeks were they called? We aren’t told.

Interesting, the point about telephone polls being skewed to older voters if they neglect to call mobiles, but a very good point I thought.

By: adrian

adrian — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:05:42 +0000

“And another hint ….there is a big difference between the Howard policy and Labor, if you were prepared to check and do some homework instead of just engaging in habitual faux concern.”

This is what is particularly annoying. As Possum over at Crikey points out, Rudd has been quietly dismantling the more sickening or simply unworkable aspects of the Pacific solution. It doesn’t take a lot of research or effort to find out what these actually are, yet it’s so much easier to to criticise from some imagined lofty peak of righteous indignation.

But their ABC’s latest recruit, the odious Alison carrabine was telling us that ‘at least Howard’s policies worked’, which is a novel use of the word ‘worked’.