Election up for grabs

The Democratic Party has its nose out in front but the General Election looks like it will go right down to the wire.
Seven days out from the General Election, the 2010 Vote is still up for grabs according to the latest poll results.
The snap poll conducted by the Pitt Media Group this week asked respondents who they planned to vote for on November 17. The results turned out to be a ‘good news, bad news’ situation – at least for the incumbent party.
The results from 100 people surveyed at random around Rarotonga show that the Democratic Party leads the stakes with 22%. For the Demos, that’s the good part. But the downside is that 46% of the respondents said they were undecided – thus turning this race into a last minute choice.
The poll also raises worries for the Opposition Cook Islands Party, which only managed to attract 16% of the vote. Trailing behind the incumbent party, the CIP actually tied with the choices for Independents – also on 16%.
That’s not what the CIP wants to hear. With such little time left to make a difference, the electorate may well be sending a message that ‘you have left it a bit late’. When a bloc of Independents can score level with a major political party, which expects change to occur naturally, then an attractive alternative to the status quo has clearly not been established.
Once the major parties realize that a sizeable chunk of the voting population is still undecided, the political strategists will be busy to ensure the greatest impact on the electorate is made in the closing days of the 2010 race.

Herald Issue 463 10 June
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