I can tell them the data:
We’re fucked. If we weren’t fucked before the volcano went off, we’re definitely fucked now.
At least Brown hasn’t been blamed for the volcano…yet.
Looks like the debate has helped the LibDems: The Times & The Sunday Times: breaking news & today's latest headlines
You know, I thought that would happen here and that we’d scrap the Electoral College ten years ago when the guy with the second-most votes became President, but oddly enough, it didn’t. Public outrage over the dreary details of election mechanics can die down pretty fast.
Sorry I’m late, but it is my mission to fight ignorance, however belatedly.
Bookies set odds based on the volume of bets placed, so that whatever the outcome they make a small profit. The bookies have no opinion on the likely outcome of an event. If most of the money goes on the three legged horse to win, then the three legged horse will be favourite. (The bookies will be delighted, they take a higher cut when an outsider wins).
The odds do show you what a large and interested but self-selecting sample of individuals (those who have placed bets) think is the most likely outcome. The downside is that the sample is not random (they are all gamblers) and though they are all financially interested, they are not financially astute (they are all gamblers).
Yeah, but Electoral College weirdness just affects the Presidency. Parliamentary constituency weirdness could give the wrong party control of Parliament, and the premiership with it (obviously).
You may have a point about the public’s short memory, but the situation would be slightly different here. If anyone were to become PM afterwards, it would almost certainly be as the leader of a coalition involving this large number of Lib Dem MPs (I don’t see any likely majority group not involving the Lib Dems, in this scenario). And I imagine the Lib Dems would be pretty vocal in their demands for electoral reform before agreeing to support a coalition.
If the Tories were only just short, they could make a deal with one of the Ulster parties.
Great analysis. My money’s on the bookmaker being the winners at this election.
That is just the hard bargain they try to drive to avert a hung Parliament in Jeffrey Archer’s novel First Among Equals, which I mentioned earlier… and he wrote that in 1984!
I’m pleased at how excited the media are getting about Nick Clegg – everyone’s trying very hard to make this election catchy!
You don’t remember, then, what Thatcher did to the TSB. Blair, more Thatcher than the woman herself, must have been very disappointed he only had DERA and CDC to do away with.
She sold off so much.
Quite right, missed this but very much agree.
Should the good Canadian with American tendencies had wished to say “Western North American hard right libertarianism” well that is another matter.
Some items were a bit hard to figure out as to what was the underlying. While I came out close to what I expected, a couple of items really I just shrugged and clicked.
Ladies and gents, we have our first Election-Losing Gaffe[tm] of the campaign:
As someone on Fark just commented, “Labour made a big mistake. They forgot Brown wasn’t supposed to speak to human beings.”
Yup - UK news just went into meltdown.
Reckon he could have pulled this one out if he’d stood his ground.
*I’d like to apologise to Mrs Duffy for what was an offensive and ill-judged remark, made on the spur of the moment. However, I should state that I in turn found her comments offensive, narrow-minded and illustrative of a damaging mindset that is dividing working class communities up and down this country. I’ve fought against racism all of my working life as a politician, and I won’t tacitly accept this type of divisive talk from anyone.
In these times of economic hardship, what Britain needs is for our bedrock communities to pull together etc etc…*
Instead he made a grovelling apology and made an even bigger cunt of himself than God intended.
Ugh. Brown just can’t catch a break. Politicians need to remember to treat every mike as an open mike.