Every Crikey reader has been told that Eden-Monaro, in regional New South Wales, is a “bellwether seat. But there’s one seat, also in NSW, with a much more impressive record: Macarthur, south-west of Sydney, has gone to the winner at every election since its creation in 1949.
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Media briefs and TV ratings
Australian Idol facing the Network Ten cost-cutter … Howard and Rudd stir up the Grumpy Old Men … It really is The Smage … Last night’s TV ratings.
Mumble poll-mix: Time is running out for the Coalition
The latest poll-mix has the government making modest ground since the election was called, from 44.5 to 45.5, closing the two party preferred gap from eleven points to nine. But even if the trend is on it’ll take until Christmas for the government to be competitive, writes Peter Brent.
Brent: Cut tax then wait six weeks
Handing down tax policy on day one of the campaign is a novel approach. What’s that about? Here’s one possible explanation, writes Peter Brent.
Crunching the polls
The Reuters graph is a fine thing, but it has some shortcomings, and I reckon we can do better. So from now until election-day I’ll be regularly mixing up the polls, using my own herbs and spices, and publishing headline two party preferred numbers to the nearest half a percent, writes Mumble’s Peter Brent.
Poll Bloggers: Keeping the b-stards honest
Nerdy, enthusiastic, talented: it makes a happy acronym for the small population of bloggers keeping watch on the opinion polls and how the media handle them in this acutely tense political atmosphere.
