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REALITY CATCHES UP
“Now that Labor has won a landslide victory,” wrote Tim Lambert a few weeks after the election, “will the Australian admit that they are blinded by bias?” Lambert continued:
Labor won a landslide victory. The Australian got it wrong ... somehow, the critics were right and the Australian got it wrong: Labor won a landslide victory.
Now that final votes have been counted, will Lambert admit that he was wrong? The Age’s Tim Colebatch looks at the numbers:
It felt like a Labor landslide. Yet John Howard and his Coalition government came within 1.5% of holding on to power at the recent federal election, final figures show.
The Australian Electoral Commission says the Coalition ended up with 47.44% of the two-party vote after strongly outpolling Labor in the record 2.5 million postal, pre-poll and absentee votes counted after election night.
The final count shows the election was closer than it appeared on election night.
Another line from Lambert: “When you make war on objective facts ... eventually reality catches up with you.”
(Clarification: only when THEIR side gets the 50% +1 tally.)
Posted by Patrick Chester on 2008 01 04 at 12:19 PM • permalinkPatrick
Prior to the Iraq war there was a news article on Channel 7 Australia which claimed that a Guardian ICM poll showed the majority of Britons were against the proposed invasion.
Except it didn’t. The poll showed 49% for, 47% against and 3% undecided.
I called Channel 7 to point this out and was told by some drongo in the newsroom editorial that “the figures were open to interpretation”.
FFS!
after strongly outpolling Labor in the record 2.5 million postal, pre-poll and absentee votes counted after election night
Hmmmnn. I wonder if the Penrith fiasco in the last days of the election had more of an impact than we thought in changing votes?
I grew up believing that Whitlam had won by a landslide in 1972. It wasn’t until many years later that I happened actual the actual figures somewhere - Gough’s winning margin was quite small.
Something about the left and their grasp of numbers. Always trying to make two and two equal five.Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 01 04 at 04:51 PM • permalinkWhile we’re on the subject of dodgy statistics, there’s some new analysis of the dubious Lancet studies of Iraq casualties.
Posted by Evil Pundit on 2008 01 04 at 06:39 PM • permalink#11 Swinish, it’s an odd thing about the left that they need to see changes of government in their favour as heroic overwhelming popular victories. Another example that pops to mind is Kennedy’s victory in 1960. I was very surprised, given the myth, when I first learned just how close this had been - I suspect most people today would say it was a landslide if they were asked (there’s an overview of this, including the probable irregularities, here).
The election was finally “declared” on 21 December, a month after the election.
This News map of the results gives a more balanced view of what happened across the country. (Blue/yellow = Liberal/National coalition; Red = Labor).
The “landslides” were confined to a very small area.
I made the mistake of sending this map to an old moonbat friend, congratulating him on his party’s win.
To my surprise, he became so enraged that he insisted I remove him from my address book. Later, when I zoomed into his area, I realised that he was living in a small blue electorate.#15 Excellent!
The Daily Mail also published a mock election manifesto. Apart from the cricket bit, he makes a few good points.
#14 skeeter, thanks for the map.
It sure appears to be a bit of a “shame job” for us Territorians!
However the final results
show that Dave Tollner (the sitting member for the Country Liberal Party) was way ahead on the primary vote, and only just missed out on “two-candidate preferred”.This shows that Rudd (with the help of the “Greens”) was only just able to fool most of the people most of the time - during the election campaign!
Therefore there is still hope for Territorians who were “blinded” by “Kev the Waffler”!
And we still returned Nigel Scullion (CLP) to the senate with a larger quota than the ALP candidate!
#15 - No bigger Clarkson fan than moi, and his libertarian, anti-PC nature is just what England needs. However, like many Brits of his ilk, he has never been able to stomach Britain losing her Empire and standing on the world stage. This has manifested into an unlikeable anti-American streak and a bad case of BDS.
Be nice if there was one western country where you could drive fast and smoke though.
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 01 04 at 08:52 PM • permalinkThe link in 14 isn’t up to date. It shows Labor in the lead in my constituency of Swan. The result was determined - Labor got kicked out - weeks ago.
Kim Wilkie’s (the losing Labor candidate) official car covered in ‘Kim Wilkie MP’ logos is often parked around the corner from my house. I told my daughter (who knows Wilkie’s son) that I was going to leave a note on the car asking how long he had before his car had to be repainted, given he was no longer Kim Wilkie MP.
My daughter made it clear that would be soooo! embarassing.
#17 Thanks, I hadn’t read the manifesto. I like a lot of the points, although I agree with Infidel about the anti-Americanism.
The Mail also has a good extract from one of George MacDonald Fraser’s books.
#20, It’s odd that they haven’t updated the map. They’re still showing some seats as undecided. So you’re one of the Swanians who can hold your head up high with the distinction of being in a seat which actually kicked out a Labor incumbent - congratulations! You all definitely deserve a free “Don’t blame me…” t-shirt!
Posted by spot_the_dog on 2008 01 04 at 09:15 PM • permalinkThird largest swing since the war and the prime minister lost his seat. “Landslide victory” could indeed suggest a large majority, so let’s just agree to call it a “bloody great kick in the pants.”
Posted by Jefferson Skates on 2008 01 04 at 11:38 PM • permalink#26 - Third largest swing. Sixth hottest year. Quite a year for you and your fellow fucktards.
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 01 05 at 12:31 AM • permalink#26
Jefferson
Skates,
rather humourlessly.Posted by spot_the_dog on 2008 01 05 at 01:12 AM • permalinkTim Lambert is one of those who should not sit on railway lines.
I couldn’t disagree more. Lambert and the Reality Express share a date with destiny.Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 01 05 at 02:49 AM • permalinkJeez. Isn’t it obvious that a 1.5%n swing and 12000-odd votes in marginals is The Greatest Most Tremendofabultastic Landslide Swing Of All Time? That is Gives A Mandate For Everything Left? That is means that the moonbats Are The Unstoppable Political Force?
What is excellent news about this is that the left, as demonstrated by completely unhinged retards like Lambert, now expect the Socialist Utopia To Flourish Upon The Earth!!
They honestly believe that Krudd is like them, a hard left wing idiot with no grip on reality.
Yet, already the first glimmers of what he really is are starting to appear. He’s John Howard’s ALP clone. He’s a control freak. he’s a middle manager from DFAT who got very lucky. He shags a multi-millionairess. he is regarded as having a glass jaw for criticism coupled with a deep vicious streak. This cabinet is going to provide fabulous spectator sport.
He is not going to nationalise the banks, abandon the ANZUS Treaty, suck Hugo Chavez’s cock, imprison Tim Blair or pass laws to ban public commentary by anyone who is not a certifiable moonbat with the IQ of a cactus. He is not going to ban all newspapers except the Age.
When this actually sinks in (if any form of reality CAN sink into the fever-dreams of such retarded onanistic fabulists), their heads will explode.
This is going to provide tremendous entertainment for us as they turn on him as a socialist class-traitor.
And they can hardly blame Howard, can they?
SO keep a few beers handy, make sure that you can survive much higher interest rates, and watch the show.
MarkL
Canberra#33, it’s already starting, with the whales. Elsewhere, to this report:
Skytraders, the aviation company contracted by the government to run a promised surveillance plane, only sought safety approval to do so yesterday (4 January), and Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokesman Peter Gibson today said it could be weeks before his organisation approved the surveillance flights.
Skytraders will not fly dedicated surveillance missions but only short diversions from scheduled weekly flights.
It is confirmed that despite Labor promising on 19 December that “it would be out monitoring Japanese whalers within days” the Customs ship Oceanic Viking is still in port in Fremantle
There was the outraged cry of a lefty,
“Kevin! Who’s watching the whales while you’re watching the cricket?”
Posted by spot_the_dog on 2008 01 05 at 05:44 AM • permalinkWhile I agree that the Labor landslide was more a movement of a few flakes of snow, the Liberal Party is barely a fit Opposition Party in its current state, let alone a Government-in-waiting. The Labor Party might win the next one by default if the Libs don’t get up off the canvas.
Rudd has managed to not slip on the climate change banana skin so far (which must drive Lambert even more nuts than he is already).
Its a shame John Howard lost his seat - it would have been entertaining to watch Rudd face Howard with the situation reversed.
33 - MarkL, the spirit of ‘83 will soon return. Cartoonists will show Rudd morphing into Howard just as Hawke morphed into Fraser.
Posted by SwinishCapitalist on 2008 01 05 at 04:32 PM • permalinkThey honestly believe that Krudd is like them, a hard left wing idiot with no grip on reality.
Yet, already the first glimmers of what he really is are starting to appear. He’s John Howard’s ALP clone. He’s a control freak. he’s a middle manager from DFAT who got very lucky. He shags a multi-millionairess. he is regarded as having a glass jaw for criticism coupled with a deep vicious streak. This cabinet is going to provide fabulous spectator sport.
He is not going to nationalise the banks, abandon the ANZUS Treaty, suck Hugo Chavez’s cock, imprison Tim Blair or pass laws to ban public commentary by anyone who is not a certifiable moonbat with the IQ of a cactus. He is not going to ban all newspapers except the Age.
When this actually sinks in (if any form of reality CAN sink into the fever-dreams of such retarded onanistic fabulists), their heads will explode.
We can only hope. Lambert is already showing danger pressure signs.
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Another line from Lambert: “When you make war on objective facts ... eventually reality catches up with you.”
And turns you over its knee and spanks you. Whereupon, you tearfully pretend it didn’t happen.