Month: January 2006

Jan.18/06 – Jack Kapica, Cyberia Technology columnist on the Globe and Mail website

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Whack-a-pol: Here’s an election poll nobody wants to win: A website called www.WhackthePM.ca, created by the clever and irreverent minds of Bill and Franke James of Toronto’s The James Gang, not only sweetens an otherwise humourless campaign, but also ties a fun game to a (highly informal) poll.

WhackthePM.ca is a variation of the old Whack-a-Mole game, but each round asks a real question, and a cartoon of each of the leaders (Jean Duceppe, Stephen Harper, Paul Martin, Jack Layton and the Greens’ Jim Harris) offers his position — well, a smart-assed version of what they are actually saying. Players get to whack the candidate with the position they like the least (on guns, for instance, or medicare).

The winner so far? Paul Martin by a country mile. Or kilometre. Whatever. As of today, he’s been whacked by 38 per cent of the players, and earned the title of Despised. He is followed by Stephen Harper (23 per cent, for a rank of Irritating), Gilles Duceppe (Annoying) and Jack Layton (Boring) (14 per cent each) and Jim Harris (11 per cent and Useless).

WhackthePM.ca is also a strategic voting tool — enter your postal code, and a list of the candidates in your riding will pop up, telling you how to vote to defeat the leader of your choice.

Franke James says the website offers players an “opportunity to whack some sense into their leaders.” She adds that the turning point in the James Gang’s poll was the Liberal’s Army attack ad. “I think Martin’s weaving and dodging about the ad only escalated [player’s] desire to whack him.”

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#1: Which issues draw the most fire?
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1. On the first question, “DOES CANADA NEED TO CHANGE?”, 49% of the people whack Martin, 21% hit Harper, 8% hit Layton.

2. On question two, “HOW WILL YOU STOP GUN PLAY IN THE STREETS?”, 41% of the people whack Martin, 24% hit Harper, 16% hit Layton.

3. On question three, “WHAT IS THE % OF WOMEN CANDIDATES IN YOUR PARTY? ” 33% of the people whack Martin, 25% hit Harper, 15% hit Layton.

4. On question four, “MEDICARE IS SICK. HOW WILL YOU HEAL IT?” 39% of the people whack Martin, 21% hit Harper, 14% hit Layton.

5. On question five, “WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO HIDE?” 40% of the people whack Martin, 21% hit Harper, 13% hit Layton.

6. On question six, “ALL POLITICIANS ARE LIARS. WHY SHOULD I TRUST YOU?” 35% of the people whack Martin, 21% hit Harper, 13% hit Layton.

7. (Tie-breaker) On question seven, “WHO IS GOING TO PAY FOR ALL THE GOODIES? ” 38% of the people whack Martin, 27% hit Harper, 14% hit Layton.

Here is the % data in table form showing the Bloc and Greens too:

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7

Duceppe 14% 11% 13% 14% 13% 20% 14%
Harper 21% 24% 25% 21% 21% 21% 27%
Harris 8% 9% 13% 11% 12% 11% 7%
Layton 8% 16% 15% 14% 13% 13% 14%
Martin 49% 41% 33% 39% 40% 35% 38%

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#2. Regional Results:
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Region Cons Libs Bloc NDP Green
——– % Whacked ———
B.C. 27% 54% 5% 11% 3%
Alberta 18% 67% 4% 6% 3%
Sask/Man 23% 59% 6% 7% 4%
Ontario 31% 52% 5% 8% 4%
Quebec 27% 40% 20% 9% 4%
Nova Scotia 44% 41% 11% 8% 7%
PEI 56% 38% 6% 0% 0%
NB 36% 52% 4% 3% 6%
Nfld 21% 69% 0% 9% 1%

NWT 25% 63% 0% 13% 0%

Yukon 56% 44% 0% 0% 0%

Martin is getting whacked consistently across the country. However in PEI and Nova Scotia their venom is directed at Harper too. Quebec is hitting the Tories 27%, the Liberals 40%, and the Bloc 20% . Interesting to see that Nfld is whacking Martin 69% of the time and Harper only 21%.

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#3. Overall: Who is the most ‘despised’ leader?
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AS OF JAN.18/06
Name: Whacked % of the time

Paul Martin: 38%
Stephen Harper: 23%
Gilles Duceppe: 14%
Jack Layton: 14%
Jim Harris: 11%

Get the latest results at: http://www.whackthepm.ca/stats_show.php

The quiz was originally inspired by a news report of Mel Lastman jumping up and yelling at David Miller, “You say dumb and stupid things.” WhacktheMayor.ca was our first poll, then WhackthePM.ca in 2004 and now the 2006 sequel! It’s interesting that even though Whack the PM is satirical humour, the results are echoing the official poll results.

The poll results are based on 4,522 unique visitors, however the quiz has been taken 8,413 times — and shows no signs of slowing down.

www.whackthepm.ca/stats_show.php.
Whack the PM also offers strategic voting advice on a riding-by-riding basis. It is based on an analysis of voter’s desired outcomes, the predicted 2006 finishing positions in each riding, and the actual 2004 Federal Election results in each riding. This strategic feature has been designed to help voters make the most effective use of their votes, so that the ballots they cast in their individual ridings can ultimately lead to the defeat of a national leader.
About The James Gang
Founded in 1989, The James Gang creates entertaining content for both traditional and new media in both the profit and non-profit sectors. Entertainment projects include www.whackthemayor.ca, and www.officepolitics.com,. The James Gang is a privately held company based in Toronto.

For further information: Franke James, The James Gang,
franke@jamesgang.com, (416) 256-9166