Oh dear god

[Booney]

Mrs Cornes yesterday asked to be spared any "tough questions" as she struggled with a backlash against her decision to stand for Federal Parliament.

A day after her first press conference as the party's candidate for Boothby drew widespread criticism of her inexperience and lack of policy knowledge, the Sunday Mail columnist told both The Advertiser and ABC radio that she did not want to face difficult questions.

The controversy over her selection means Labor leader Kevin Rudd, who was to come to Adelaide this week to back his new candidate, is reorganising his schedule and may not make the trip.

When contacted by The Advertiser yesterday, Mrs Cornes said: "What is this for?

"I won't have to answer any tough questions, no hard-hitting questions, will I?

"I've had just about enough of those questions."

While she spoke on commercial radio yesterday, she would not go on the ABC's politically-orientated morning show.

ABC 891 presenter Matthew Abraham told listeners she had called him before the start of the 8.30am program to explain that "quite frankly, I'm not prepared for anything heavy".

"I have done a quick phone call with 5AA. Your show is different. You ask serious questions - they're not going to give me any hard questions, it's just going to be a soft interview," Abraham said Mrs Cornes had told him.

The 37-year-old wife of football identity Graham Cornes did go ahead with an Advertiser interview and revealed that:

NO ONE had warned her how "ferocious" scrutiny of her candidacy would be. "I wasn't expecting the brutality," she said.

SHE was "not prepared for the onslaught of straight into policy and straight into in-depth conversations regarding issues I really don't have a grasp of, yet".

PUBLIC criticism had been hurtful, but "we've all given a judgment of somebody we don't even know".

DOUBTS about continuing as a candidate had arisen and "if I really believed I couldn't do it, then I would quit. It's not worth my health or my family".

SHE had thought about quitting at Sunday's press conference "when they (reporters) were all coming up with the questions and I knew the intent and it was like 'this is it' ".

SHE DOES not yet consider herself a politician and "I need to earn my stripes".

VOTERS "have to believe in me to vote for me, but a vote for me is a vote for Kevin Rudd".

BETTER preparation before Sunday's announcement would have made little difference as "I'm still going to lose my words, my thought patterns are still going to get jumbled. In a way, that's a bit of my personality too".

Talkback radio and online forums continued to be inundated with comments as debate over celebrity candidates raged yesterday.

By last night, the AdelaideNow website had received more than 4700 votes in an online poll about Mrs Cornes and hundreds of comments about her. Sixty per cent of online voters said they would not vote for her.

[JK]

The ALP are responsible for this and should be carrying the can moreso than Mrs Cornes.

[scoob]

Its not fair why should politicians have to face hard questions!!!!

Its this labour trying to lose again????

[noone]

Furthermore having a journo from the advertiser running for the alp wont harm how the alp is reported by the tiser..

Firstly she ain't a journalist. Columnist maybe but like her husband, not a qualified journalist. That's another job she got because of who she is and what she looks like. Secondly just because she works at the Sunday Mail won't giver an easy ride in the 'Tiser. The front page today is pretty scathing as it should be.

well true, it is a stretch calling anyone a journo who works for that rag...

While I havn't seen todays paper, so i dont know what it says, however for a candidate in a low priority seat, almost any publicity is good publicity. Often candidates in seats like boothby are not even known by voters when they get to the polling booth. Name and face recognition are all important, with a growing undecided to the last minute voter %, voters atleast knowing who she is will benefit her alot.

[McAlmanac]

Secondly just because she works at the Sunday Mail won't giver an easy ride in the 'Tiser. The front page today is pretty scathing as it should be.

I would expect nothing less from a Murdoch newspaper.

[zipzap]

And to think i used to laugh at the americans and how Arnie could get a gig over there!!!

The joke there being that's he's actually done rather well by all accounts, certainly on the environmental front, and is not toeing the Bush line (whatever that is) all the time.

[Sojourner]

While I havn't seen todays paper, so i dont know what it says, however for a candidate in a low priority seat, almost any publicity is good publicity. Often candidates in seats like boothby are not even known by voters when they get to the polling booth. Name and face recognition are all important, with a growing undecided to the last minute voter %, voters atleast knowing who she is will benefit her alot.

Thats the problem, the name Southcott is also being given a stack of free advertising!

[noone]

not nearly as much and its all going to be bylines

paragraph about nicole

nicole is running against sittling liberal southcott for the seat of boothby with a 5.5% margin.

another paragraph about nicole.



there is a big difference between purely mentioning the name, and profiles, indepth interivews and puff pieices are far more likely to stick in peoples heads.

[Squawk]

I am embarrassed by this.Not going to change my vote but am going to formally change electorates so I do not have to lower myself and vote for that.The most token effort since SMART for NORWOOD and I thought that was going to be the lowest thing I had ever seen .I stand corrected.

Interestingly, Smart was heavily courted by the Labor party before deciding to join the Libs. He also has tertiary qualifications, was an office bearer on the AFL Players Association and has held an executive role at Toyota. Would seem he would be better credentialled than Nicole.

[Magpiespower]

Mrs. Cornes is even copping it from the Daily Teletrash now...

[zipzap]

It's like watching a car crash...

http://publish.vx.roo.com/adelaidenow/videoplayer/?channel=Local+Videos&clipid=1383_106912&bitrate=300&format=wmp

[Dutchy]

It's like watching a car crash...

http://publish.vx.roo.com/adelaidenow/videoplayer/?channel=Local+Videos&clipid=1383_106912&bitrate=300&format=wmp

On man that is ugly....I could only watch half of it!!!

this is going to do Rudd more damage than good...she has no idea and been thrown to the wolves...Surely she should have at least rec'd some media training before all this....Image the Libs wacthing this and laughing so hard it hurts

[JK]

lol .. Prob won't hurt Rudd too much .. I'd imagine most people outside of SA would just laugh and think "Yep, thats South Australians for you!"

[Booney]

It appears as though the training has done her wonders.

She has the 'err' and "st-st-stutter' down pat.

[our_longreach]

It appears as though the training has done her wonders.

She has the 'err' and "st-st-stutter' down pat.

Apparently Mark Riccutio has been giving her the 'and er' lessons while KG had been teaching her the art of stuttering.

[Booney]

It appears as though the training has done her wonders.

She has the 'err' and "st-st-stutter' down pat.

Apparently Mark Riccutio has been giving her the 'and er' lessons while KG had been teaching her the art of stuttering.

Th-th-that is funny,to be quite frank with you.

[therisingblues]

It's like watching a car crash...

http://publish.vx.roo.com/adelaidenow/videoplayer/?channel=Local+Videos&clipid=1383_106912&bitrate=300&format=wmp

That poor, poor girl. I knew nothing about Nicole Cornes until this thread was created. When I first read the things people were saying about her, I thought there was a chance they were making things up. Obviously not.
She looked real nervous and as though she couldn't think straight under pressure. What is she doing in politics? Too late, she's there now. She really needs to research these things the reporters are going to ask her, or at least understand the major issues. She needs to do her homework and be honest, because she is still a long way off giving plausible b*llsh1t answers, or thinking on her feet.

[JK]

It appears as though the training has done her wonders.

She has the 'err' and "st-st-stutter' down pat.

Apparently Mark Riccutio has been giving her the 'and er' lessons while KG had been teaching her the art of stuttering.

Just need Tony Mcguiness to finish her off now

[our_longreach]

It appears as though the training has done her wonders.

She has the 'err' and "st-st-stutter' down pat.

Apparently Mark Riccutio has been giving her the 'and er' lessons while KG had been teaching her the art of stuttering.

Just need Tony Mcguiness to finish her off now

LOL, that is very very funny.

[Coorong]

It appears as though the training has done her wonders.

She has the 'err' and "st-st-stutter' down pat.

Apparently Mark Riccutio has been giving her the 'and er' lessons while KG had been teaching her the art of stuttering.

Just need Tony Mcguiness to finish her off now

LOL, that is very very funny.

And he HAS some experience at that