1300 words on the ABC about Lin Hatfield Dodds?

Strange things can happen, even in supposedly safe seats. For example, if lots of minor parties and independents run, then the votes for the ALP and Liberals might be reduced somewhat. And if all those minors/independents preference Greens above both majors, it could happen.

Not a big chance, sure. But with the right events during the campaign…

Given that there was a swing away from both the ALP and the Liberals at the last ACT election in favour of the Greens, it is worth their while being serious about the second senate seat simply to maintain a presence as a significant player in ACT politics. But as Aurelius notes, the electoral maths mean that they’ve got almost no hope of ever gaining the seat unless the Liberals did something really, really stupid (and promising to slash 12,000 public servant jobs isn’t quite stupid enough to do the job) or nominated a spectacularly bad candidate.

Affirmative Action Man said :

Sorry but on principle I refuse to vote for anybody with a hyphenated or double action surname.

She added her partner’s surname, and he added her surname to his. One was Hatfield, one was Dodds, now they are both Hatfield-Dodds. It’s true!

Sorry but on principle I refuse to vote for anybody with a hyphenated or double action surname.

Does it matter whether it’s the Democrats or the Libs who take the Senate seat? What ACT needs at Federal level is competition to Labor, so that they stop taking this territory for granted. What exactly has Labor received from the Federal Libs in infrastructure spend during this federal government? Zero … it’s all gone to States with marginal seats. What is bringing the ACT to a halt? Chronic underspending in transport infrastructure. So let’s challenge the Labor status quo in the ACT … vote for competition, vote for anybody but Labor in the Senate.

54-11 said :

So JB is tempting fate by suggesting that’s there more chance of him being fullback for the Raiders?

The last person who used a football analogy like that became PM last week.

I hope they don’t spread graffiti all over the ANU again like they did last time. Some of it’s still around.

And frankly if they didn’t manage to knock off Gary Humphries in 2007 with a much higher profile candidate and the liberals losing seats all over the country, they’re not going to manage it now.
A better bet would be for them to use their resources elsewhere (in states where they have a chance of picking up two seats) and go for the ACT when Gary Humphries is inevitably pushed out at preselection, which is bound to happen sooner or later. If they’re really lucky he might do something silly like run as an independent.

So JB is tempting fate by suggesting that’s there more chance of him being fullback for the Raiders?

Here’s a suggestion for you, Lin. Get your party to commit to full indexation for retired Defence staff and public servants. That may swing enough votes your way from retired and soon-to-be-retired Canberrans to drop Humphreys below the quota line.

One thing’s certain: she’s the most boastful of the Senate candidates.

Aurelius said :

But even without that, on the day, the day that matters, many Green-aligned voters fall into the “wasted vote” erroneous mindset and not vote Green once they get into the booth.

I have often wondered why the these people don’t just vote first for the Greens and then direct their preferences where ever it is that they think they are not being wasted.

Aurelius said :

So the upshot of all that is that Lin Hatfield has as much chance of toppling Gary Humphries as you do, Johnboy, of scoring the first try in next weekend’s Raider’s game.

JB’s probably got more chance then the Raiders do…