Australians decide PM's fate in potential cliffhanger vote

[lligrd]

Source: AFP

by Marc Lavine
2 hours, 50 minutes ago

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australians went to the polls Saturday to decide whether to oust Prime Minister John Howard after 11 years of conservative rule in a vote that is shaping up as a last-minute cliffhanger.

Howard, US President George W. Bush's most stalwart ally in the Iraq war, is seeking a fifth term, but opinion polls show centre-left rival Kevin Rudd as the frontrunner to kick Howard unceremoniously out of power.

But the vote that 100 opinion polls in the past year have billed as a landslide victory for Rudd's Labor Party looked set to go down to the wire after two new surveys showed Howard sharply narrowing Rudd's lead.

As 13.5 million voters in a nation of 21 million began filling out ballot papers from Australia's remote outback to its bustling cities and the icy wastes of Antarctica, Howard said he was confident of victory.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071124/ts_afp/australiavote_071124025703;_ylt=AvJvYQb75.g2aceA8XTKaBWs0NUE

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Hmmm, nothing suspicious about this. :sarcasm:

[Mojambo]

1. Stinks. Stinks BAD. n/t

[Violet_Crumble]

2. Early Exit Polls Favour Rudd

Kevin Rudd was on course for a comfortable win according to senior Labor strategists who spoke to The Sunday Age late this afternoon. Early exit polling published by Sky News also indicated that Labor was well placed to win the election.

One ALP source told The Sunday Age that there appeared to have been big swings to Labor in South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales.

According to Sky News, their Exit Poll has revealed that 58 per cent of those surveyed think John Howard has been in power for too long and it's time to give someone else a go, while 42 per cent disagree with that sentiment.

Translated to voting intentions, that would represent a massive swing to Labor.


http://blogs.theage.com.au/koutsoukis/archives/2007/11/early_exit_poll.html

fwiw, the Sky News exit poll has Howard easily losing the seat of Bennelong. If that translates into reality in a few hours, it's going to be a real celebration at my house! :)

[Progressive Friend]

4. Hell yeah!

Aznar, Berluscummy and now John Howard

[Violet_Crumble]

3. Here's a link to the results as they happen...

Counting starts in about 10 minutes...

http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2007/

[Newsjock]

5. Live video here

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/livestreaming.aspx?id=328348

And a state-by-state analysis, too.

[...of J.Temperance]

13. Howards gone....and you've got a new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

Gosh how fab :)

[Endangered Specie]

6. ABC just called it: Howard loses his seat!

[Andrushka]

7. Hardly

0.2% counted - they were basing it on one booth!

However, I like your optimism! :toast:

Can we combine these two threads that are up on LBN?

[depakid]

8. Link to ABC live updated results (including swing) Very Cool

http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2007/

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm still biting my nails....

[dipsydoodle]

11. Good link

thanks for that.:toast:

[dipsydoodle]

12. Labour only need another seats

for victory.

[Endangered Specie]

9. hehe, would suck if they had a Florida-2000 moment

[bluestateguy]

10. Another Bushbot about to go down?

nt

[dipsydoodle]

14. It's all over

bar the shouting. Good riddance to bad rubbish with the old government.