Astrovoting

From the VOCM Question of the Day comment board:

Date: 10/31/2007
Name: Ranger Andy
Comments: I agree with "AL"...This is a Liberal Poll. I bet some of them have voted several times already. Polls can be a joke at times. When a Premier and Party receives approx. 70% vote of confidence, then the poll should also reflect that..NO??? Libs are sore losers from the Getgo. Danny has a vison and at the end of the day, NL will reap the benefits of his vison.

Date: 10/31/2007
Name: Al
Comments: It is kind of odd that so many of us voted for these members just days ago,but now we don't like them in the cabinent.It looks like the few Liberals in the province are going all out to get their votes in on this poll.

"Ranger Andy" and "Al" made their comments as the total number of "votes" in the VOCM QotD — which today was "Do you like Danny Williams' new cabinet?" — ratched up from the typical 1800 or so, and those, decidedly negative towards the cabinet changes, to, at the time of this blog posting, nearly 5,000, 75% of which answered the question in the positive.

This sudden spike of interest in the VOCM Question of the Day is a very common phenomenon whenever the question is one of the performance of Our Dear Premier, or Our Dear Provincial Government generally. Funny, that.

On May 9, 2007, the question was "Do you support a call by the NDP for government to create more child care spaces in the province?", which netted 1332 "votes". On the 11th, it was "Do you think extending voting to two days instead of one for federal elections will improve voter turnout?", which garnered 1358.

In between, on the 10th, "Do you support the Trust and Confidence Rally being held in St.John's on Friday?" elicited over 11,000 votes, and 74% of those were in the affirmative. Of course, despite songs being sung about Him, and Him being invited on stage to give the third-most bizarre speech of his career, the T&C rally had nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with Danny himself.

Similarly, on April 20th, "Do you support plans for a massive rally on Confederation Hill to support the premier in the equalization fight?" garnered over 26,000 votes, 80% of which were "yes". The previous question, "Should parents and guardians be held financially liable for damage caused by youth?", generated just 1633 "votes". The following question, "Should the House of Commons approve a motion to bring our troops home from Afghanistan by 2009?", 2796 "votes".

April 13th's "Do you support the Labrador Metis Nation's ad campaign aimed at Premier Danny Williams?" had a turnout of 21,530.

March 30ths, "Do you support the province's ad campaign aimed at Stephen Harper?", 12,269.

"Should the Premier call an early general election instead of having more by-elections?", on January 1th, when the Premier was visibly itching to do so, "fixed election-date" legislation or no, had nearly 13,000 respondents, 88% of whom said yes.

"Do you think the premier should have reinstated Transportation Minister John Hickey now?", on January 10th, over 11,000 "votes", 81% of whom agreed with the Premier.

The day before, "Do you think the premier should call an early election because of the ongoing spending scandal in the House of Assembly?" got over 28,000 clicks, 83% of whom agreed.

On December 11 of last year, the question "Should Natural Resources Minister Kathy Dunderdale resign over the Bull Arm contract controversy?" attracted nearly 16,000 responses, 77% of whom didn't think she should.

And on November 29th, "Should the official opposition drop the fibre optic issue?" got 31,742 people out to the virtual polls, 63% of whom sided with Our Dear Premier.

Yes, it's a safe bet that some partisans have voted "several" times already in today's Question of the Day... Ranger Andy and Al probably included.

Hi, Liz!