Desperate Democrats

[wagstaff]

I just surfed onto the ABC web site to catch up with the latest on the South Australian elections and with the election still too close to call, the big story has been the drop in the vote of the Australian Democrats.

What struck was what the Democrats South Australian leader said as to the reasons why the party has struggled:

"We peaked about 14.5 per cent [at the] end of August, and then a dive... I think around September 11 obviously, world events I think frighten some people, and while it mightn't be a conscious thing, I think there is a bit of a fear of change right now," he said.

It was pretty desperate when the ALP to a large extent blamed September 11 for their defeat federally, but this is getting absurd. Surely a more viable reason would be that - post-GST - the Democrats aren't seen as an alternative change to the major parties and have become part of the establishment. This is borne out by the fact that so far, the vote for minor parties has increased by 5.1%.

And will this be the end of the road for their supposedly popular leader?

 

[Bomber Spirit]

The Democrats did the deal with the Liberals to get the GST through, so they won't get any votes from any anti-GST sentiment. The Dems these days are generally to the left of Labor, so their potential voters are hardly likely to be impressed by them getting the GST through.
But the dominant issue in politics at the moment is assylum seekers. And every opinion poll will tell you that the Democrats' position isn't shared by the majority of Australians.

 

[Goldenblue]

Everything is blamed on september 11th...Insurance companies are using it to an extent, Politicians use it as a bull excuse to disguise their incompentency, and Howard won an election partly on sept 11th.

Funny how people and companies can use a tragedy to either bolster their bank accounts or use it for propaganda......


Bloody demeaning I say

 

[Joe Mama]

You're right about that, Goldenblue. That's for sure.