…and Alexandre the Meercat has the most popular podcast.

Oh boy, has modern technology invigorated political debate in this country or what? The 2010′s are gonna make the 1960′s look like the 1950′s!

Hate to get serious about this, because I found them hilarious, but is not all publicity, good publicity? Is this not Cameron’s dream, for a Tory election poster to go internet-mad?

Let us hope this influx of visitors were swing-voters unsure of the Tories, pondering the compassion and progression Cameron espouses, swing-voters who are now crying into their hands, gutted at the realization that both main parties are basically saying the same thing. We live in a democra-ship, we are told we have a say, we have a vote, we have equal power – when in reality we have no choice, like the US, and can only hope that electoral reform can change this and give representation. A voting system that promotes diversity with parties and co-operation between elected officials.

Oh my words, way too serious. Laugh at Cameron, he shines like the sun, glows like the moon and is the Savior of the World!

Hate to get serious about this, because I found them hilarious, but is not all publicity, good publicity? Is this not Cameron’s dream, for a Tory election poster to go internet-mad?

Not if the narrative is that the posters were airbrushed and fake…

“Hate to get serious about this, because I found them hilarious, but is not all publicity, good publicity? Is this not Cameron’s dream, for a Tory election poster to go internet-mad?”

George, I think this is indeed a concern, and it is also something being debated on Tory sites, eg Ian Dale says the poster was a success because “it is still being talked about two weeks after it first appeared”: http://iaindale.blogspot.com/2010/01/was-that-poster-success.html

Some of his commentators disagree, however, one saying: “People are still talking about Hitler… even though the last time he presented himself for election was more than 60 years ago. I would not, however, see a reincarnated Fuhrer polling well. If you really think that this advertisement has done any good for the Conservative Party you need a reality check. I trust those in Central Office have learned their lesson.”

On the issue of whether we’re lowering the tone of debate, I’d say that given all our visitors aren’t about to go off and read lengthy analyses of the perils of early deficit reduction by David Blanchflower, Graham Turner or John Ross, this is about as succinct a summary as you can get of what’s wrong with Tory economic policy: http://mydavidcameron.com/jobs1.html

If anything, what’s missing is something in between the longer analyses (mainly read by others on the left and by academics) and our jokey soundbites. We wanted to link to some clear and accessible sites in our sidebar for those who wanted to know more, but had trouble finding any.

I could go on but I’ve got 100 posters of David Cameron wearing silly hats waiting to look at.

Naughty!

Guido is not, allegedly, a Tory supporter.

(Just thought I’d shoot Staines’ fox)

The web traffic levels are certainly impressive, but I’d be very wary of relying on Alexa for comparing sites. Too many people have found it to be wrong when comparing it with other data.

An example of how it can get trends wrong is the comparison I did of Alexa and Google data for Guido Fawkes: http://www.markpack.org.uk/can-you-trust-alexa-and-google-trends/

“Not if the narrative is that the posters were airbrushed and fake…”

We’re not living in a society that dislikes visual illusion and airbrushing (although commentators seem to suggest so frequently) we’re in a society that makes airbrushed figures into icons and ambitions and sees digital manipulation as normal. We see airbrushed images every day, the fact that this isn’t a model, musician or actor only makes it slightly more novel because it’s still an advert and they’re all airbrushed. That means the narrative isn’t very significant because it actually amounts to the fact that this is a normal advert. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like airbrushing and I don’t like David Cameron but you can’t think about this in the context of politics because people won’t frame it in that way, they’re going to think it’s a shame but not hugely surprising.

The one in the hat is absolutely bloody comedy gold, I mean I could look at that all day and be giggling.

Mark – thanks for the link. I’ve added it, along with a note, to the bottom of our stats page.

Daniel – stop giggling and get back to some serious political work.

Who is this Sunny fellow? Is he an immigrant from somewhere?

Clifford Singer @ 9:

Will do sir!