New Year miscellany: Dunkley by-election, preselection and polling round-up (open thread)

First reports emerge of preselection contenders for the looming Dunkley by-election, plus state polls from Victoria and Queensland and much else besides.

First up, developments ahead of the Dunkley by-election, which Rachel Baxendale of The Australian reported yesterday was “unlikely to be held before late February”:

• A Liberal preselection ballot scheduled for January 14 is expected to include Frankston mayor Nathan Conroy; Donna Hope, who as Donna Bauer held the state seat of Carrum from 2010 to 2014 and is now an electorate officer to Chris Crewther, former federal member for Dunkley and now state member for Mornington; Bec Buchanan, another staffer to Crewther and the party’s state candidate for Carrum in 2022; and Sorrento real estate agent David Burgess, who was on the party’s Legislative Council ticket for Eastern Victoria in 2022.

• Paul Sakkal of The Age today reports the widower of the late Labor member Peta Murphy, Rod Glover, is being encouraged to seek preselection by “senior Labor figures”. The report describes Glover as a “respected former staffer to Kevin Rudd, university professor and public policy expert”. Also mentioned in Rachel Baxendale’s report were Madison Child, an “international relations and public policy graduate in her mid twenties who grew up in Frankston”, and has lately worked as an electorate officer to Murphy; Georgia Fowler, a local nurse who ran in Mornington at the November 2022 state election; and Joshua Sinclair, chief executive of the Committee for Frankston and Mornington Peninsula.

Other preselection news:

• Tim Wilson has confirmed he will seek Liberal preselection to recover the Melbourne seat of Goldstein following his defeat at the hands of teal independent Zoe Daniel in 2022. Paul Sakkal of The Age reports he is “unlikely to face a challenger”.

• Lydia Lynch of The Australian today reports nominations for Liberal National Party preselection will close on January 15 in the inner Brisbane seat of Ryan, which the party lost to Elizabeth Watson-Brown of the Greens in 2022, and the Gold Coast seat of McPherson, which will be vacated with the retirement of Karen Andrews. The front-runner in the former case is said to be Maggie Forrest, barrister and the party’s honorary legal adviser. In addition to the previously identified Ben Naday, Leon Rebello and David Stevens in McPherson (the first two being rated the front-runners) is Adam Fitzgibbons, head of public affairs at Coles. Party insiders are said to be “increasingly concerned” about the emergence of a “McPherson Matters” group that is preparing a teal independent bid for the seat.

• Lily McCaffrey of the Herald-Sun reports Emanuele Cicchiello, deputy principal Lighthouse Christian College deputy principal, has been preselected as Liberal candidate for Aston, the Melbourne seat that was lost to the party in a historic by-election result on April 1. Cicchiello ran unsuccessfully in Bruce in 2013 and has made numerous other bids for preselection.

• Rochelle Pattison, chair of Transgender Victoria and director of corporate finance firm Chimaera Capital, has nominated for Liberal preselection in Kooyong, joining an existing field consisting of Amelia Hamer, Susan Morris and Michael Flynn.

• The New South Wales Liberal Party website records two unheralded federal election candidates in Sam Kayal, a local accountant who will again run in Werriwa following an unsuccessful bid in 2022, and Katie Mullens, conservative-aligned solicitor at Barrak Lawyers who ran for the state seat of Parramatta in March and has now been preselected for the federal seat of the same name.

Polling news:

• The Courier-Mail sought to read the temperature of Queensland politics post-Annastacia Palaszczuk without breaking the budget by commissioning a uComms robopoll, crediting the Liberal National Party opposition with a two-party lead of 51-49. The only detail provided on primary votes was that the LNP was on 36.2% and Labor 34.4% – no indication was provided as to whether this was exclusive of the uncommitted, which is often not the case withuComms. Steven Miles was viewed positively by 42.7% and negatively by 27.6%, with only the positive rating of 37.8% provided for David Crisafulli. A forced response question on preferred premier had Crisafulli leading Miles by 52.2-47.8. True to the Courier-Mail style guide, the report on this unremarkable set of numbers included the words “startling”, “explosive”, “whopping” and “stunning”. The initial report on Tuesday was accompanied by a hook to a follow-up that promised to tell “who Queenslanders really wanted as Annastacia Palaszczuk’s replacement”. The answer was revealed the next day to be Steven Miles, favoured by 37.8% over Shannon Fentiman on 35.0% and Cameron Dick on 27.1%. The poll was conducted December 21 and 22 from a sample of 1911.

• RedBridge Group has a poll of Victorian state voting intention showing Labor leading 55.9-44.1, little different to the 55.0-45.0 result at the November 2022 election. The primary votes are Labor 37% (36.7% at the election), Coalition 36% (34.5%) and Greens 13% (11.5%). Extensive further results include leadership ratings inclusive of “neither approve nor disapprove” option that find Jacinta Allan viewed positively by 24%, negatively by 30% and neutrally by 32%, John Pesutto at 16% positive, 36% neutral and 29% negative, and Greens leader Samantha Ratnam at 14% positive, 29% neutral and 35% negative. The poll was conducted December 2 to 12 from a sample of 2026.

• Nine Newspapers published results from Resolve Strategic on Thursday on whether various politicians were viewed positively, neutrally, negatively or not at all, which it had held back from its last national poll nearly a month ago. Whereas a similar recent exercise by Roy Morgan simply invited respondents to identify politicians they did and didn’t trust, this one took the to-my-mind more useful approach of presenting respondents with a set list of forty names. In the federal sphere, the five most positively rated were Penny Wong (net 14%, meaning the difference between her positive and negative results), Jacqui Lambie (10%), Jacinta Price (6%), David Pocock (5%) and Tanya Plibersek (3%). The lowest were Scott Morrison (minus 35%), Lidia Thorpe (minus 29%, a particularly remarkable result given what was presumably modest name recognition), Barnaby Joyce (minus 27%), Pauline Hanson (minus 25%) and, interestingly, Bob Katter (minus 15%). Of state leaders, Chris Minns (plus 14%) and David Crisafulli (plus 9%) did notably well, and John Pesutto (minus 7%) and the since-departed Annastacia Palaszczuk (minus 17%) notably poorly. The poll was conducted November 29 to December 3 from a sample of 1605.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

2,460 comments on “New Year miscellany: Dunkley by-election, preselection and polling round-up (open thread)”

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  1. Lib/nats and their propaganda media units also claimed that the by-elections will show what voters think of federal Labor
    the 2 by-elections – Turned out reasonable for Labor
    Gain Aston – Liberal Party

    Fadden – Very safe liberal party seat – Labor primary vote was around 2022 federal election level – there was no so-called backlash

  3. Twenty-five percent of Americans say it is “probably” or “definitely” true that the FBI instigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, a false concept promoted by right-wing media and repeatedly denied by federal law enforcement, according to a new Washington Post-University of Maryland poll.

    The Post-UMD poll finds a smaller 11 percent of the public overall thinks there is “solid evidence” that FBI operatives organized and encouraged the attack, while 13 percent say this is their “suspicion only.”
    Among Republicans, 34 percent say the FBI organized and encouraged the insurrection, compared with 30 percent of independents and 13 percent of Democrats.

  5. ISIS claimed responsibility on Thursday for two explosions that killed nearly 100 people and wounded scores at a ceremony in Iran to commemorate commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone in 2020. The group posted a statement on its affiliate Telegram channels.

  6. Macca RB @ #1697 Friday, January 5th, 2024 – 6:03 am

    Re: Aged Care.

    If the Governmennact any of these recommendations, I can see this becoming like the “Franking Credits” of the 2019 Election campaign.
    Remember, how many thousands of Australians, who weren’t even shareholders, voted against a proposition which didn’t directly affect themselves.
    Aged Care needs reform.
    Personally, from my experience, I would nationalise this industry so that every person, requiring this care, has the same high and dignified care which suits their need.

    Re the franking credits:
    The common denominator here for quite a number of Orstraylians is repeat after me.
    If you don’t know vote No.
    Even if they do have to cut off their noses.

  7. UK Voting Intention Via @wethinkpolling:

    LAB: 43% (+2)
    CON: 26% (-1)
    LDM: 11% (-1)
    RFM: 11% (+2)
    GRN: 6% (=)
    SNP: 3% (=)

  8. Thanks BK. The SMH editorial about MPs behaving badly is ironic. Our media reports politics as a horse race with a winner takes all frame which just emphasises the brutish approach.

    Furthermore, our media rewards ‘news’ that generates eyeballs, hence we see people like Barnaby Joyce being rewarded with airtime for uttering complete nonsensical rubbish, which should be ignored rather than reported.

    Why would MPs change their behaviour when our current media rewards them for boorish and ugly behaviour?

  9. Here we are in a terrible threatening economy with a Government that by coalition accounts is useless and has no idea.
    Vast swathes of people can’t afford to eat and yet we as a nation managed to clock up a new record with new vehicles purchased.
    Maybe this is the equivalent of forgetting our troubles and going to the talkies during the Depression?
    Also, seemingly the bigger the fuel guzzler the better is the trend.
    https://www.fcai.com.au/news/index/view/news/815

  11. Speaking about the Utes and Monster Trucks, it seems that that is the area which is holding up the government’s release of new fuel emission standards. So, working out a way to get the Tradies vehicles of choice under the emissions umbrella. Probably due to the fact, though I’m not sure, that there aren’t that many bigger workhorse type EV vehicles available in Australia to purchase right now.

  12. ‘Macca RB says:
    Friday, January 5, 2024 at 6:03 am

    Re: Aged Care.
    I would like to know how these “alleged” reforms are going to save money.
    My now-deceased widowed mother had to enter a nursing home in 2010, until her death in 2020.
    Firstly, she had to sell her home to pay for the accommodation bond – approximately $650 000 – which the Nursing Home invested and kept the returns. At the time of her death this balance was considerably reduced through the application of “Administration Fees”.
    Secondly, 85% of her pension was deducted to cover, basic daily accommodation fees.
    Any extra services – clothes, outings, shopping – were deducted from her meagre savings account.
    If the Governmennact any of these recommendations, I can see this becoming like the “Franking Credits” of the 2019 Election campaign.
    Remember, how many thousands of Australians, who weren’t even shareholders, voted against a proposition which didn’t directly affect themselves.
    Aged Care needs reform.
    Personally, from my experience, I would nationalise this industry so that every person, requiring this care, has the same high and dignified care which suits their need.’
    ————————————–
    Squeeze some money?

    1. The ‘bond’ does not go to offspring. It goes as a taxes to the Feds to be used to pay off the aged care budget.
    2. Don’t limit the ‘bond’ to funding from house sales.
    3. Charge market rates for accommodation and all services.

  13. It is good to see that ISIS or some variation thereof, has claimed responsibility for the mass murder of innocent Iranians who were attending a funeral.

    Why? It reduces, by a tiny smidge, the tensions between the Iran gang and the Israel gang.

    I assume that the Iranian Government will now publicly withdraw its claims that it was Israel and the evil Satan, the United States.

  16. As it appears that discussion about Iran appears to be beyond the scope of the moratorium (though I find it hard to see how myself), I’ll just add that I saw footage of Iran’s spiritual leader giving a speech after the assassination of the Hamas deputy leader (see what I mean?), and the camera panned to the collection of faithful, male only, acolytes listening to him. So, just going on body language, the applause was tepid and the audience was comprised of a lot of dishevelled looking people, who could very well have been the workers at the local Shaheed drone factory. They certainly didn’t look like a bunch of public intellectuals, the middle class, or military types. But you never know, of course. Countries like Iran keep the answers to these questions as closely-guarded secrets these days as it has become all about the impression the leader wants to give and not the actuality.

  18. “… don’t discount the desperate research moles at the ABC, ably assisted by their research assistants at the right-wing IPA, who helpfully and regularly plant stories and suggest suitable guests to the ABC like dogs laying down beloved bones.”

    Ronni Salt nails it. Thanks, Quasar.

  19. C@tmomma says:
    Friday, January 5, 2024 at 7:23 am
    Speaking about the Utes and Monster Trucks, it seems that that is the area which is holding up the government’s release of new fuel emission standards. So, working out a way to get the Tradies vehicles of choice under the emissions umbrella. Probably due to the fact, though I’m not sure, that there aren’t that many bigger workhorse type EV vehicles available in Australia to purchase right now.

    ———-
    Your last point is valid to a point. My Hilux (2012 Single Cab) always took light truck tyres because that’s what it is, not a ute. It was a farm vehicle in the last five years of my agriculture teaching, then a camping vehicle till I bought an ev.
    It was a load carrier (many new ‘Utes’ actually carry less load now) and suited to farm terrain.
    It did suit tradies and there is little to replace it in todays market except vehicles called ‘Utes’ with space for 4-5 people and smaller load area. Why do they need to have dual cabs? Only because they became a ‘weekend’ vehicle under ScoMo…hence the ‘threatened’ weekend.
    If these vehicles truely conformed to reasonable emissions standards, probably with a power loss and a meaningful weight tax, the government may make some progress. That said, my MG4 weighs more than my unladen Hilux, not by much, but it does…I’d be prepared to pay a similar weight tax in line with petro-masculine Utes.

  20. How unsurprisement

    ——-
    During the pandemic, then-President Trump said about the drug hydroxychloroquine, “What do you have to lose? Take it”. Now researchers are estimating 17,000 people may have died as a result of that advice. (Politico)

  22. The ABC has been on a downward spiral for years.

    Channel nine news Melbourne is actually better on most days, and that is saying something.

    Channel 7 is still pathetic.

  23. Thanks very much for this, Quasar.

    This very narrow representation, this lack of organic flow of a story tends to indicate the presence of spin-meisters working behind the scenes. In this case it’s the Torie’s people inserting culture wars in the media to artificially inflame an issue that really isn’t worth inflaming. Honestly, the significance of Nick Fletcher MP’s opinions to the average Australian would sit slightly below that of the Senate’s resident garden gnome, Malcolm Roberts. But, it’s all par for the course in today’s endless culture wars battlefield disguised as modern media.

    And people got up me when I pointed out a similar plant in the media which sprung up in The Australian by one of Trump’s handpicked Neo Fascist Generals wanting to destroy any positive Joe Biden initiative which would disrupt Herr Drumpf’s plans to take over America.

    There are none so blind as those who let their ingrained biases get in the way of them seeing the truth.

  25. To be honest I never expected this news about Greece after Angela Merkel did to Greece when it wanted to convert its currency to € (Euro).

    I clearly remember BW caustic remarks against Greece and how Angela Merkel ( the woman who saved democracy because Trump became POTUS) did the right with Europe although we came to know later that she did the right thing by Germany banks ( but that is another story)

    Greece hailed again as global economic ‘country of the year’

    https://www.euronews.com/business/2024/01/03/greece-hailed-again-as-global-economic-country-of-the-year

    “The Economist rated Greece as the top-performing economy in 2023. Euronews Business breaks down the study and considers how the rest of Europe performed last year.

    Greece led The Economist’s annual ranking of rich-world economies in 2023.

    The study gathers data on five indicators: “core” inflation – which excludes volatile components such as energy and food; GDP; employment, and stock market performance for 35 global mostly rich countries.

    For the second year in a row, Greece has achieved remarkable results. With a GDP growth rate at 1.2%, Greece stands out among other countries for its sharp growth in the real value of the stock market, which rose by 43.8% from 2022 to 2023. ”

    The interesting thing is currently Germany is the sick baby (with regards to economy) of Europe. Even UK is better than Germany.

  28. Ven says:
    Friday, January 5, 2024 at 8:28 am

    To be honest I never expected this news about Greece after Angela Merkel did to Greece when it wanted to convert its currency to € (Euro).

    I clearly remember BW caustic remarks against Greece and how Angela Merkel ( the woman who saved democracy because Trump became POTUS) did the right with Europe although we came to know later that she did the right thing by Germany banks ( but that is another story)
    ….’
    ——————-
    FMD.

    What Merkel did was to refuse to give Greece more free money to piss away, to ignore Greece’s sordid blame shifting to Germany, to force Greece to honor its debts, to call Greece’s bluff on leaving the EU, and to force Greece, finally, to honour its commitment to develop and to implement a functioning tax system.

    All this could only happen after the SYRIZANs, with the aid of their con trail conspiracist partner, and despite numerous promises to the contrary, to gut Greece and its institutions of capital.

  29. Victoria @ #1720 Friday, January 5th, 2024 – 8:20 am

    How unsurprisement

    ——-
    During the pandemic, then-President Trump said about the drug hydroxychloroquine, “What do you have to lose? Take it”. Now researchers are estimating 17,000 people may have died as a result of that advice. (Politico)

    Yep many of us said at the time his ‘advice’ was dangerous and there would be people who died as a result. Same with his ‘advice’ to drink bleach FFS.

  30. ”
    Pied Piper.says:
    Friday, January 5, 2024 at 12:21 am
    Us election is about getting the vote out.Democrats we’re caught off guard they thought Americans would not vote for trump so did not turn out to vote.
    He won.

    The last election democratic voters came out in huge numbers they won and they will again due to trump annoying them.
    ”

    “they will again due to trump annoying them.”
    Seriously! Are you that thick?
    I don’t know how the turnout will be in 2024 election. The Democrats will turnout not because Trump “annoys” them.
    It is because they think democracy is at stake in 2024 election. If Trump wins, Americans say goodbye to democracy (a lot of Americans like that but that is another story).

    If Trump wins
    1. women fear that they will lose reproductive rights ( although that is already happening in Republican states now).
    2. the democrats fear that it will be ‘revenge and retribution ‘ as Trump said.

  31. ”
    Ven says:
    Friday, January 5, 2024 at 8:28 am

    To be honest I never expected this news about Greece after Angela Merkel did to Greece when it wanted to convert its currency to € (Euro).

    I clearly remember BW caustic remarks against Greece and how Angela Merkel ( the woman who saved democracy because Trump became POTUS) did the right with Europe although we came to know later that she did the right thing by Germany banks ( but that is another story)
    ….’
    ——————-
    FMD.

    What Merkel did was to refuse to give Greece more free money to piss away, to ignore Greece’s sordid blame shifting to Germany, to force Greece to honor its debts, to call Greece’s bluff on leaving the EU, and to force Greece, finally, to honour its commitment to develop and to implement a functioning tax system.

    All this could only happen after the SYRIZANs, with the aid of their con trail conspiracist partner, and despite numerous promises to the contrary, to gut Greece and its institutions of capital.
    ”

    Now Greece rose like a Phoenix from ashes. 🙂

  32. ”
    Macarthursays:
    Friday, January 5, 2024 at 12:24 am
    What is it with right wing political or protest groups in Western countries targeting Ukraine in an effort to squeeze domestic concessions from their own government?
    ……..
    …….
    Ukraine has nothing to do with Polish corn subsidies, loans and tax concessions to its own agricultural sector. This is yet another case of a right wing interest group in the West basically saying “give us what we want, or Ukrainians will get hurt”.
    ”

    Macarthur
    You must have noticed in Hollywood movies, where the villain(s) put a to his/ her protagonist beloved or innocent bystanders or someone vulnerable and demand their escape route/ demand their ransom/ demand whatever is important to them.
    That is what is currently happening with the people you mentioned. Unfortunately no James Bond or Jason Bourne may not come in time for them.

    I heard a story that when WW2 started in Europe, Franklin Roosevelt wanted to join the war in the beginning of the war. But his hands were tied due to domestic issues such as US politicians on both sides calling out not to interfere because it was not their war or Industrialists lobbying Congress because their economic interests with Germany would be impacted.
    I don’t know how far it is true but Roosevelt wanted something to happen in US to jolt Americans out of their apathy. Hence, when Pearl Habor happened, he immediately joined war citing Pearl Habor as one of the reasons to join.

  33. Statement from Zelensky

    ———
    I thank Germany and @Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz for the new military assistance package. It is timely and focused on our priorities, particularly air defense.

    The advanced Skynex system and additional IRIS-T SLM missiles will strengthen our sky shield and save more lives. I am grateful to Germany for once again demonstrating its leadership in this area.

    The package also includes more Marders, artillery ammunition, drone detection systems, and a variety of other items.

    German assistance helps save human lives and restore a normal and just peace in Ukraine and our entire Europe sooner.

    Danke Deutschland!

  34. Thanks BK. Dawn Patrol:

    A top Indigenous group urged Labor to act quickly after the Voice referendum to counter Indigenous disadvantage while Australians remained focused on the issue and pushed to mandate consultation with First Nations leaders. But, writes Paul Sakkal, nearly three months after Australians overwhelmingly voted No to the Voice, Labor has said little about its agenda to improve living standards among First Australians.

    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/urgent-need-albanese-pushed-on-alternative-to-legislated-voice-following-referendum-defeat-20240104-p5ev62.html

    ———————

    So is Labor going to spend more than the $100million promised at the May 2022 election on improving living conditions, closing the gap, in the over 1200 aboriginal homeland communities desperately needing help? In fixing/building more homes, improving medical, education, skills training, jobs provision?
    All known to need funding before The Voice was proposed.

    We know The Voice would have only been advisory, politicians didn’t need to listen and act.

    And we know Duttons role in The Voice Referendum was to discredit Albanese. Only. For Dutton and the Liberals political advantage next election.

    Does Labor have a plan here?

  36. ”
    “If Trump returns to the White House, should we rethink the US alliance?”, asks historian Emma Shortis. She says that in an alliance allegedly built on shared democratic values, “bipartisanship” should never mean identifying ourselves with fascists. And yet, that is exactly what this government is risking.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/if-trump-returns-to-the-white-house-should-we-rethink-the-us-alliance-20240103-p5euyx.html
    ”

    As Tony Abbott said “Shit happens ” and then”BAU”. Don’t we have trading with China knowing what Chinese political system is?

  37. ”
    Yesterday, Islamic State claimed responsibility for two explosions in Iran that killed nearly 100 people and wounded scores at a memorial for top commander Qassem Soleimani who was killed in Iraq in 2020 by a US drone. In a statement posted on its affiliate Telegram channels, the militant Sunni Muslim group said two IS members had detonated their explosive belts in the crowd which had gathered at the cemetery in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman on Wednesday for the anniversary of Soleimani’s death.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east/islamic-state-claims-responsibility-for-deadly-iran-attack-20240105-p5evav.html
    ”

    What is new? The snake is eating itself.

  41. Commercial FM news this morning had Bridget McKenzie loudly demanding that Albo admit whether he discussed Qatar Air with Alan Joyce. (I think Albo said he didn’t?)

    This seems part of the LNP trying to deflect attention from the Howard WMD papers that temporarily went missing during Morrison’s time. Yesterday Dutton described that matter as a ‘beltway issue’ of little importance.

  42. ”

    ”

    Indeed!
    He thinks law is there to protect him only and not others.
    From what he said a lot of a lot of Americans fear that there won’t be any rule of law in US if he wins.

  47. ”

    ”

    Anyone else would be in jail by now.
    For example, take the ‘classified documents ‘ case.
    A woman was thrown in jail first before sentencing and was sent to jail by court for (~ 2) years for keeping one classified document..
    Almost all of Trump lawyers involved in RICO case pleaded guilty to escape jail.

    https://www.justice.gov/usao-hi/pr/honolulu-woman-receives-three-months-prison-removal-and-retention-classified-material

    US woman gets five years in prison for leaking NSA document

    https://www-aljazeera-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2018/8/23/us-woman-gets-five-years-in-prison-for-leaking-nsa-document?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIUAKwASCAAgM%3D#amp_ct=1704408910822&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=17044086525407&csi=1&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2018%2F8%2F23%2Fus-woman-gets-five-years-in-prison-for-leaking-nsa-document

    Kendra Kingsbury, 50, of Garden City, Kansas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to 46 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. Kingsbury pleaded guilty on Oct. 13, 2022, to two counts of unlawfully retaining documents related to the national defense.

    https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-fbi-analyst-sentenced-retaining-classified-documents

  48. ”
    Holdenhillbillysays:
    Friday, January 5, 2024 at 6:56 am
    Twenty-five percent of Americans say it is “probably” or “definitely” true that the FBI instigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, a false concept promoted by right-wing media and repeatedly denied by federal law enforcement, according to a new Washington Post-University of Maryland poll.

    The Post-UMD poll finds a smaller 11 percent of the public overall thinks there is “solid evidence” that FBI operatives organized and encouraged the attack, while 13 percent say this is their “suspicion only.”
    Among Republicans, 34 percent say the FBI organized and encouraged the insurrection, compared with 30 percent of independents and 13 percent of Democrats.
    ”

    How can America be redeemed? No wonder Biden ratings are in Toilet (33%) after leading stellar economy since early 1960s.

  49. After the comments regarding Bill Maher yesterday, I also reflected on the Young Turks. Cenk also known as Jake together with Anna Kasparian are shit poor excuses for progressives.
    They have gotten worse over time.

    Every now and then I see snippets of their commentary.

    Grifters the lot of them.

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