This poll should not give comfort to either side. My take on it is quite different from all the others that I have heard so far. It is saying very clearly to me, if no one else, that the country is rejecting all of the people vying to become Prime Minister. Thirty per cent of the country is said to prefer Arthur, but if you look at that information another way, you will see that 70% of the country does not want him. He is the best of a bad lot.

This information suggest that the country should really be looking for someone or something new. If Wickham’s poll says nothing else, it is saying that the current crop of leaders is discredited.

@Caswell

Having said that if things remain as is a choice will have to be made.

@David
The time for thinking on things is gone. Visible, tangible, progressive action is the only thing that can save dem,

I fail to understand the DLP’s politicos reaction.Could anyone be that daft to expect a different outcome from the polls ? The more and more as I react and listen (on another thread), to some.. I come to realize and answer myself.As with Min Lashley..”polls don’t vote “…these fellows are that remote from reality. They actually believe they were scoring with the people….scoring how, where…? The sad part is ..I believe some still do .

The poll was not earthshattering in its revelations. Economic conditions are always a main determinant in how a politician is viewed. If you are in government when the economy is growing you are hailed as a great leader and you can walk on water but if there is recession and you have to make any tough decisions or implement any austerity, your popularity takes a major hit.
Remember after the oil crisis in the 1970’s , how the people turned on the Right Excellent Errol Barrow.
Therefore, a government operating in the most vicious external environment in nearly 100 years with the accompanying economic repercussions will bear the brunt of criticism.
That is why so many governments have been having a tough time in the region. Clearly, there was no Freundel Stuart in Jamaica, St. Lucia, Bahamas,Grenada,etc.
It is not a good time to be an incumbent – The DLP government like Obama must defend their stewardship in the context of stabilizing the ship in an ocean of massive, unprecedented economic turbulence which they encountered.
It is still the pocket book- the problem is if relax the fiscal policy to acheive your political objective, what will happen to your foreign reserves in an environment where tourists are not spending heavily and foreign inflows are slow.
A man shared this piece of political strategy for the DLP with me today:
He called it the Hot potato strategy, I do not necessarily agree but he said:
If the short term political objective is to be met, the government must clearly and repeatedly highlight its successes, show a unified front and economically reduce taxes, fees,vat on everything. By cutting taxes, they take away an obvious major missile from the opposition and if the people do still run back to the BLP, then they will leave the BLP with the hot potato to send home people,deal with the run on the foreign reserves and all the other issues- They must pass a hot potato, he said.

@ !
Now that is adequate confirmation that you all have no idea whatsoever of what is going on…..pray

The government must continue to adopt a unified approach.This is the area where the public scores the opposition BLP low as the obvious dislike of Ms. Mottley by Owen Arthur is apparent to any one with a brain.
This is significant because the poll also shows that the people agree that this is the worst BLP slate of candidates ever presented to the people of Barbados-After Arthur , Mottley, the public is saying that the BLP cupboard is bare- deputy opposition leader Dale Marshall – a total waste cannot scrape 2%.
Despite implementing some tough, unpopular measures, Chris Sinckler is still in the top 3 among all Barbadians and number 2 among uncertain voters. He is obviously highly regarded by many members of the public.Sinckler needs to maintain a high profile along with the rising star Donville Inniss. PM Stuart is no fool – he understands clearly what must be done.

Ha, 70% rejection of the vying leaders …

I starting my first batch of T-Shirts

VOTE INDEPENDENT OR NOT AT ALL …!

@Observing

After you’ve finished with the “it’s the economy stupid” mantra,
could you expound on the 9% “preferred leader” statistic.
****

You are normally on the ball but is it the lateness of the hour that made you refer to that statistic? The “preferred leader” received 29.8%, hardly a ringing endorsement for a man who led the country for 14 years. Only in politics can 29.8% be considered an achievement in almost any other sphere of activity it will be a dud.

A beauty contest it isn’t, they are all like Cinderella’s step sisters and the public is trying to choose which one to take to the Ball.

@Sargent and !
You get an A+ for diversion. but, I”ll make a simple statement. The sitting Prime Minister of a country for over 18 months who has purposely divested financial responsibility to his Minister of Finance is the 4th preferred leader with 9% of the sample choosing him. Were the economy the drag, then Sinckler’s numbers should have flat lined or decreased, not improved.

Now, with respect to Arthur’s 29%, with all due respect, I could give a rat’s rear left cheek about him and I suspect so do most of the electorate, but, he’s in opposition trying to win, not in government controlling the country and what should be national sentiment. Theoretically he shouldn’t even be up there in the rankings since most may not want him, but, it appears they want Stuart and Co. less. Even if we do consider him, he still triples the sitting PM %, meager 29 or not.

Now, let’s do some maths:

OA + MM = 55%
FS + RS = 10%
FS + RJ = 10%
FS + CS = 28%
FS + RJ + CS + RS + DI = 38%

does anyone else see a problem here??

I mean for crying out loud Arthur got ONLY 0.4 less of a leadership rating than Stuart among DLP SUPPORTERS. In an election where leadership, the economy and competence are top priorities.

Now, if this was an elaborate plan to plant people across the island to skew this poll then bravo, job well done. But, if the spin you guys are bringing here is the best the DLP has in response to these resultsl I think they should follow Lashley’s NCF’s media policy and just move on.

Just observing.

Hi Observing; I didn’t see your post above before I posted mine.

Two distinct triangulation efforts that gives the same results.

“barbadians are not surprised at cadres findings understandable in an austere economic climate”
on what empirical evidence are you making such a bold statement? mr stuart has never dealt with economic matters and the poll clearly indicates that the country seems to have patriotically accepted mr sinckler’s draconian tax measures based on his credible standings which suggests that leadership is the key and not the economy at the moment.

To exacerbate matters the CADRES poll is showing that Bajans are against government injecting funds in REDjet:

http://www.nationnews.com/articles/view/not-our-money/

Bear in mind Barney Lynch is on the other side of this issue.

If core supporters of the DLP and BLP were to ever really know or strongly believe that this country’s political economy and services industry sectors are in total dire shambles at this stage, they would certainly do less to support these joke parties.

So, why would they still continue to support two old ramshackled parties esp. when they are in government, that are systematically destroying many of the affairs of this once enviable country?

Political education and political consciousness among them seems really to be greatly lacking!!

Core supporters of the DLP and BLP ought to be ashamed that upon the next election this country’s material production and distribution affairs will be in a far worse state than now, and that Barbados will be continuing its precipitious slide downwards towards,a point of no return at some stage in the future – which is within the next 10 to 15 years.

PDC

this poll s also seems to be sending a message to the DLP ranking file that it is alright to change their leader it would be interesting to see how this come about in the weeks and months ahead if possible

@ ac

Is it not hypocritical for persons like yourself, who, when Wickham’s CADRES poll predicted a landslide win for the DLP in the 2008 general elections, were singing his praises in response to those BLP supporters, who, similarly to you, were questioning his credentials?

The regular DLP hacks were on the call-in-programme lambasting Wickham, with one regular caller, known as Arthur, questioning Wickham’s creditability, and suggesting that he has in essence manipulated the poll results, because he was separated from CBC.

Like it or not, but you must be fair, Wickham has been consistent in the statistical methodology, (whether it be qualitative or quantitative) that he uses to conduct these polls. From the time this present DLP administration came to office, their members and supporters have always taken offence to constructive criticism.

“Prime Minister Stuart may be a nice guy and noble in his intentions.”
the dilemma in that statement is that Mr stuart’s intentions other than that he is not ‘treacherous’ remains unknow after having been in charge of the office of prime minister for over three years.

@brief

No, don’t have a recording.

Wickham made a valid point yesterday. The DLP is the party which led the country to Independence in 1966 and has been unable to hold on to power since Errol Barrow for any significant time since then? Comment?

The next 3-4 days may determine the dlp’s future. The longer they allow these results to soak into people’s mindsets the more ingrained they will become and the (even) harder it will be to change perceptions and frame
the narrative…….(.Observing; st.andrew thread)
**********************************************
AC….your theory of perception finally will get a good workout…….

“If the short term political objective is to be met, the government must clearly and repeatedly highlight its successes, show a unified front and economically reduce taxes, fees,vat on everything. By cutting taxes, they take away an obvious major missile from the opposition and if the people do still run back to the BLP, then they will leave the BLP with the hot potato to send home people,deal with the run on the foreign reserves and all the other issues- They must pass a hot potato, he said.”

and this would be a good idea for who again? Bajans? or just DLP Bajans?

in that above statement lies the problem with the DLP. they appear with a comment like that to be only thinking about themselves. that is sad.

From what I can discern from the polls is that MIA is more acceptable than the gang of 4 and that MIA is a threat to OSA . MIA has to walk a very straight line from now on to improve her image in the way she knows best.

AC please talk with some kind of common sense, please DO NOT open yourself to blows. Yuh is muh frien BUT yuh does tawk some shoite gurl.

To Island Gal:
Remember the party chooses the leader not a poll by the general public. The only political threat Mia is is the only to herself. She put her friend Sandra Husbands to run against her friend Donville Inniss, hoping that Donville would have an easy victory. Now Donville is fighting for his political life.

“Thanks for the correction, but I was born after 1961, and based my comments on the era that is more familiar to me – 1981 to present day.”

was not intended to be a correction only a clarification

The comment is befitting of the character [ !.]..not necessarily the DLP (I hope not)…..selfish and shallow mindedness. It speaks of a wimp ” we can’t have it…..then nobody should.” The hot potato they should be thinking off( instead of giving up,and once more throwing their hands in the air)..is listen to the people…snip :” thing real hard…do something nah”…expand the basket of goods exempt from vat…….but not like jackass [!.].plant a petard to blow them up MORE later…a real joke nah…boi