Bracks Watch

Bracks Looking For A Free Ride

I have worked in market research for the past few years and only recently moved on. For the first time ever, this morning I received a survey myself, which turned out to be a Victorian state politics poll.

The poll was conducted by an organisation which I know handled the ALP's polling for the Federal and recent Western Australian elections, it only makes sense that this too was an ALP poll.

Most of the poll was fairly standard, having seen political polls before, the questions that struck me as different was the demographic question about public transport, and the question about bias for or against rural and regional areas. These would be extra questions that have been specifically added to the survey at the request of the client (presumably the ALP given the company running the research).

The other interesting point (although not really a surprise) was the emphasis on the state economy, it seems obvious that Bracks is going to try and run on the strength of the Victorian economy.

Although the Victorian election is eighteen months away, Bracks is not asleep. He might not be the best at practical solutions to practical problems, but he committed to one aim, survival. With an eye always on the next news cycle, Bracks seems to be worried about the country as well as public transport, but is preparing to run on Victoria's strong economic performance under the Howard government - hitching a free ride on the back of Howard & Costello's hard work.

The poll itself went something like this:

Do you think Victoria is heading in the right direction or on the wrong track?

Who did you vote for in the past election?

If an election was held today, who would you vote for?

How likely are you to change your vote?

What do you think are the two major issues facing Victoria? Why?

Do you feel positive or negative to Robert Doyle?

Do you feel positive or negative to Steve Bracks?

Who do you prefer as Premier?

How confident do you feel in the State Government's management of the State economy?

How confident do you feel about the State economy?

Are you better or worse off than four years ago?

Do you feel your quality of life is better or worse than four years ago?

Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the state government's performance in each of the following areas?

Health
Education
Keeping Down Taxes & Charges
Roads
Public Transport
Town Planning
Law & Order
Environment
Water
Industrial Relations

Do you feel the State government has favoured, been fair to, or ignored rural and regional areas?

Then there were the standard demographic questions:

Age

Household Income

Household Type

(and then one very nonstandard demographic question):

Are you a user of public transport?

posted by JP @ 1:12 PM