EXIT POLL: SPAIN RULING PARTY WINS MOST ELECTION VOTES (SKY NEWS)

Sky News ^ | 14 march | Sky News

[cmsgop]

I'm getting in the Shower Now....

[Bombard]

I see you are new to FR. Your conclusions are rather odd. You seem to have picked up the media spin on the attacks last Thursday. Given the history of ETA in Spain it was logical for the Spainish government to state that ETA was the prime suspect in the attacks. To state that they hid something from the public is just plain wrong. If Spain had no history of a local terror group you might have something. But in Spain Islamic terrorists was not the only option,so the government went with history and ETA was at first named. It is still unclear if Islamic terrorists were the ones behind the attacks.

[Eurotwit]

FROM THE BBC:

Spain poll result 'neck and neck'


Wounded Cayetano Abad voted to show "we cannot stand idle"
Voting has ended in Spain's general election overshadowed by claims that al-Qaeda carried out Madrid's bomb attacks that killed 200 people.
Early exit polls suggest the ruling Popular Party and the opposition Socialists are running neck and neck.

Some figures indicate the government is just ahead, others that the Socialists have the lead.

Voter turnout had been high, with many people spurred to cast their ballots in defiance of the bombers.

No group of fanatics will prevent us from living in freedom," Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said casting his vote.

The claim came in a videotape by a man identifying himself as al-Qaeda's military spokesman in Europe.

Spain's Interior Minister Angel Acebes said European intelligence services had been unable to identify the man, named as Abu Dujan al-Afgani.

Before the tape's existence was made public, thousands of Spaniards took to the streets accusing the government of downplaying an al-Qaeda link for fear of losing votes.


Voters defiant after the horror of Thursday's bomb attacks


They say the government was too swift to blame Basque separatists ahead of the election.

Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio told the BBC the Basque separatist group Eta was still a strong suspect, and said police were not ruling out a possible collaboration between Eta and al-Qaeda.

Three Moroccans and two Indians are being held in connection with the attacks.

Germany has called an urgent meeting of EU interior ministers to discuss the situation.

Turnout

Polls opened at 0900 local time (0800 GMT), and queues formed almost immediately.

Reuters news agency said that by 1400 local time (1300 GMT), turnout had reached 39.5% - higher than the 35.5% at the same stage in the 2000 election.


Voters near bomb scenes visited candle shrines to the victims
Black ribbons hung from polling booths and voters' lapels. Most voters at polling stations near the attack scenes spent a few moments at candle and floral shrines laid out for the victims.

Cayetano Abad, one of the 1,500 wounded in last Thursday's attacks, was driven to a polling station in an ambulance.

"I've come to show that everything carries on, that we cannot stand idle," he said, bandaged and wearing a neck brace.

The BBC's Katya Adler in Madrid said tensions are high as people decide which political party should take the country forward in the wake of the attacks.

She said heated arguments broke out in polling stations across the city, and the debates continued at newspaper stands, cafes and on street corners.

In some cases, police were called to keep the peace.

Some voters said they stayed up all night listening to the radio, hoping to glean some information to decide which way to vote.

Duty to vote

Our correspondent says the one issue people in Madrid seem to agree on is that it is their duty to vote.

Many people admitted they had not planned to vote until the bombings.

I wanted to feel a little bit better, because at home I can't do anything

Madrid protester


Bombs' impact on elections
"I have two friends who have never voted in their lives and they're going to vote in this one," said 41-year-old businessman Carlos Bermudez.

Mr Aznar and his wife were booed and jostled as they arrived to cast their votes in central Madrid an hour after polling began.

As he tried to address supporters, the outgoing prime minister was drowned out by cries of "manipulators", "liars" and "peace".

"I want to say that whoever they may be, wherever they may come from, we will never allow the terrorists, the fanatics who want to finish and subjugate Spanish society, to divide it and destroy our freedoms, to do that," he said.

Mariano Rajoy - who is to succeed Mr Aznar if their Popular Party (PP) is returned to office - was also forced to find cover after youths hurled abuse as he turned up to vote.

The videotape was found in a litter bin on Saturday following an anonymous tip-off to a Madrid television station.

In the video, a man speaking Arabic with a Moroccan accent says the attacks were revenge for Spain's "collaboration with the criminals Bush and his allies".

The Spanish government backed the US-led invasion of Iraq last year despite polls showing 90% opposition to it from the Spanish public.

[Betaille]

"The Saturday report by the socialist-aligned radio station of a coverup was jumped on massively by the media"
I'm not so sure about that, but my point remains. The media was very much on board with the "it was ETA" theory even after all evidence pointed otherwise. They weren't doing this to help PP, they were doing it to downplay the islamic threat so it wouldnt help Bush.

[volchef]

In the video, a man speaking Arabic with a Moroccan accent says the attacks were revenge for Spain's "collaboration with the criminals Bush and his allies".

So that means that if we vote for Kerry they'll just shake our hands and say no hard feelings, right? Yeah....right.

[Danette]

later reading

[longtermmemmory]

Part of the "issue" with the media is that is is in fact "brainless" as a whole. It only reacts autonomously based on the concept of "the public has a right to know".

When a governement official descloses all they know without embelishment or speculation, they assume something is hidden. (look at how the media reacts to Rumsfeld)

This lack of speculation lends itself to partisan gamming as kerry does with "Bush is hiding X, stonwalling X".

Appeasment is withing the mentality of the media members who are by vast majority on the left. Appeasment is nothing more than something for nothing, FREE STUFF. This is about a valid as liberals who tell women being raped to not resist.

I see those who wold vote for appeasment as in denial. No different than those americans who refused to believe that the rules of the world changed on 9/11.

There is one intersting point that the media has missed, it was made by a talking head out of palm beach on abc. The terroists are just blowing whatever they can. No longer are they targeting us intersts. Just watever there is soft and available.

The believe the public will blam Bush for the Bombs of Alqueda/Eta/or whoever.

[nuconvert]

You're right. It was rational to assume that ETA was behind attacks, at first. But Spain took a while to come around after everyone else already had. They were a little slow on the uptake.

[Bonaparte]

The attack was uncharacteristic of ETA. But it was characteristic of islamist terror attacks elsewhere. There have been articles posted in the forum about this. So far, it appears that nothing connects the attack to ETA and the evidence collected points to islamists.

[Eurotwit]

It seems like the PP has had massive setbacks in Catalonia.

[Sacajaweau]

btt

[Betaille]

Could that have soemthing to do with the fact that the PP blamed the basques?

[DB]

And these people calling them liars are too stupid to realize that the only reason they know that there is evidence of al-Qaeda is because their government told them about it...

[Diddle E. Squat]

I'm not so sure about that,

Well I am, I've followed this closely, and watched it myself yesterday. There was a clear spin and trumped up charges being made by the leftist media. You can deny it all you want, but it happened, and there is plenty of evidence. Here's a thread from yesterday when the Spanish gov't announced the arrests of the Islamists(again, if there was a coverup for election advantage, why announce the arrests yesterday, instead of now?)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1097050/posts

[Eurotwit]

Indications are that many voters are angry at the government for covering up who was behind the bombings reports CNN's spanish sister channel.

[ScaniaBoy]

No, as they have already said it is not what you've done but who you are. If you are an infidel, ie not a fanatic muslim then you are a prime target.

Funny, if anyone else or any other group had voiced such sentiments our media elite would have been up in arms, shouting "fascism!" and "racism!" but not now. How come?
(/rhetorical question)

ScaniaBoy

[July 4th]

FOX now reporting that the ruling party appears to have lost a number of seats - this may not be good....

[Eurotwit]

TVE polls show narrow victory for the socialists.
Tele 5 polls show narrow victory for the government.

[Bombard]

Slow?? The Spainish government was the one with all the facts. That they took their time to confirm is only right. ETA has a history and would have been the prime suspect in any bombing. Rember it has only been three days since the attacks.