Polls, papers hurt Howard on election eve

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SYDNEY, Nov 23 (AFP): Besieged Australian Prime Minister John Howard was hit with a slew of bad news on the eve of elections Friday as opinion polls showed him trailing his opponent and key newspapers called for his ouster.
Two polls showed opposition Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd headed for a clear victory Saturday, reflecting the trend in more than 100 consecutive surveys this year, while another suggested the fight could go down to the wire.
The polls were compiled before Howard's faltering campaign suffered a new setback Thursday when it was revealed that members of his Liberal Party had engaged in dirty tricks in an attempt to smear Labor.
The party admitted it had expelled two members for distributing fake flyers falsely linking the opposition party to support for Islamic extremist bombers.
This scandal was followed by a body-blow for Howard's bid for a fifth term in office Friday when several major newspapers endorsed Labor.
The Sydney Morning Herald carried a front-page headline saying 'Howard needs a miracle' over its report of a Nielsen poll showing the prime minister heading for a landslide defeat by Rudd.
The resurgent centre-left opposition party would beat Howard's conservative coalition by 57 per cent to 43 per cent, according to the poll of more than 2,000 voters.
If these figures were reflected in the polling booths Saturday, Labor would win an extra 46 parliamentary seats -- 30 more than it needs for victory -- including those of Howard and several of his top ministers.
The newspaper followed up the bad news on its front page with an editorial backing Rudd, saying the government appeared "unwilling to respond to the new and growing challenges Australia faces.