keepleftnz.org

Media Release

15 August 2005

keepleftnz.org attacked from all sides in inaugural week.

The creators of keepleftnz have vowed to stand firm in the face of attacks over its most recent video - called “deceitful” and “dishonest” - and after its challenge to political newsletter Molesworth and Featherston was met with a defensive, high-profile reprisal.

“We’ve managed to piss off just about everyone,” Ringo said. “But my ego has been well-served by all the attention, especially when the Herald ripped off our idea this morning, so I’m going to keep going. And going and going and going.”

A satirical cartoon - now known as ‘that video’ - led to attacks from both left and right cyber-pundits, including Blumsky campaign manager and leading National-party blogger David Farrar and the Greens’ Frogblog. In addition, a keepleftnz ‘Poll of Polls’ claiming to be better than Molesworth’s ‘Rolling Poll’ led the newsletter to print a defensive yet convoluted response.

“First of all, ‘that video’ isn’t coming off the site. Farrar can keep dreaming. As for Molesworth, we admit that their poll was our inspiration. But ours is better, and we’re taking it a step further. This week we’re introducing the ‘Poll of Poll of Polls’ - a rolling average of the rolling polls. We’re plugging the poll gap,” Paul said.

“If Molesworth or any other imitator tries to roll our rolling poll of rolling polls, we’re prepared to roll theirs,” George said. “That’s a pretty threatening statement for a puny nerd and I expect it to carry a lot of weight.”

The creators of the site announced that “a fair few” people had visited the site in its first week. “That’s about 200,000 less than our target,” Yoko said. “We’re not sure what went wrong. Hell, we even had the vanguard of the revolution people on our back demanding to know why there wasn’t a Joseph or a Leon in the band. These people are so fickle.”

The attacks represent a remarkable fall from grace for keepleftnz.org, declared last week to be the greatest political website ever.

In an attempt to attract more visitors to the site, a range of new content will be added in the coming days.

“Besides the Poll of Poll of Polls, today we’re releasing a new Cosmopolitician, a new video - sure to cause more controversy than ‘that’ one - on Wednesday and a second edition of our Blog awards on Thursday,” John said.

“We also have a tax cut rapid response team in the war room in the event National actually releases its policy before the election,” George said. “They’ve been camped out for months, but we’ve been running dummy drills to keep them sharp. We’re ready for just about anything except an actually popular policy. Then we’re screwed. But what are the chances of that?”

ENDS

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