The Victorian election is living up to its billing as the latest battlefield in new paradigm politics, with the Liberals finding themselves shunted from the front pages by a stoush between Labor and the Greens.
Articles by William Bowe 
About William Bowe
William Bowe is a PhD student with the University of Western Australia’s Discipline of Political Science and International Relations. He has been running the electoral studies blog The Poll Bludger since January 2004, independently until September 2008 and thereafter with Crikey.
Poll Bludger: the moral majority and how it pans out
Very little actually changed in yesterday’s counting, which saw a continuation of the slow decline in the Labor total that is the usual pattern of late counting.
Poll bludger: minority government and the rise of the greens
Minority government was a frequent occurrence in the first half of the twentieth century, and has undergone a renaissance as the major parties’ share of the vote has declined in the past two decades.
Poll Bludger: five seats still in doubt
There are five seats still in doubt as far as I’m concerned, though it’s not unknown for outsiders to emerge on the radar late in the count.
Poll Bludger: Newspoll shows WA remains Labor’s weak link
How has state-level polling tracked through the campaign week-by-week, based on an aggregate of Newspoll and Nielsen results.
Minor parties wheel and deal for Senate ticket preferences
Three significant political milestones have occurred this week. First, the ballot paper draws and publication of full candidate lists; second, the publication of group ticket votes for above-the-line votes in the Senate; and last but not least, the launch of Crikey’s electorate form guide.
Poll Bludger’s election 2010 preview: Brisbane, the young and the restless
Poll Bludger’s tour of the Australian electoral map today takes us to south-east Queensland, where new polling shows Labor is in some strife.
Poll bludger: Penrith by-election proves Keneally’s not enough
It is possible that, buried in some such dark and dusty place, there might be found details of a by-election defeat as bad for a major political party as the one suffered by New South Wales Labor in Penrith on Saturday.
Poll Bludger’s election preview: SA poll points to closing of the gap, say Libs
Labor’s resurgence in South Australia in 2007 put an end to a slump that dated to 1987, the last time it had won a majority of the South Australian two-party vote.
Poll Bludger’s Election 2010 preview, Part 1: WA — the state of excitement!
Will history prove again that Western Australia is a problem for the ALP? Get your wonk on in this, the first in a preview series from Poll Bludger’s William Bowe on the upcoming Federal election…
Standing up for nothing leaves Labor open to attack
If asylum seekers and the abandonment of a charter of rights hadn’t made it clear, the retreat on an ETS confirms this is not a government prepared to die in a ditch over matters of high principle.
State elections: down for the count
As the air cleared on Saturday night and Sunday morning, word was that the results in South Australia and Tasmania were too close to call. However, for all but the most starry-eyed Liberal optimists, that was only half true.
Poll Bludger: SA Labor holding on by skin of their teeth
However, the trend to the Liberals which began when Isobel Redmond became leader last July has continued to gather pace, to the extent that Labor now hopes for little more than to hang on as a minority government.
Rann’s approval takes a caning as Libs firm in SA election market
As the South Australian election campaign enters its final fortnight, a complacent betting market continues to rate the Liberals a $3.60 long shot — but that should change following today’s Newspoll.
While not a Rann-away win, Labor looks safe in SA
Despite Premier Mike Rann’s recent sex scandal, the odds remain stacked in Labor’s favour in the next South Australian election, reports William Bowe.
By-elections: it’s all swings and roundabouts
From Saturday’s by-election results, it appears that much of the damage from the Liberal Party’s switch on climate change looks likely to be concentrated where it can’t do them much harm.
Tasmanian state Labor forfeit in by-election first
Is forfeiting an election less embarassing than a defeat? Obviously the Tasmanian Labor party thought so, since they didn’t contest their own seat at the weekend’s by-election.
Freo by-election: the start of big things for the Greens
The Fremantle by-election was only the second time the Greens had won a state or federal lower house seat outside of Tasmania.
