Polls And Me

There must be something wrong with me. Every time I read a poll I seem to come to the wrong conclusion, or according to the editors at The Australian that is. Today's newspoll shows a clear desire from the Australian public to leave Iraq, 31 to remain, 63 to leave (in varying ways) and 6 uncommitted, but I must be missing something considering that the editorial had this to say:

'the Opposition Leader used a foreign policy speech last week to call for Australia to reconsider its military objectives to favour a more regional focus. In doing so, according to Newspoll, Labor risks putting itself on the wrong side of the Iraq debate, with its proposal to withdraw 500 combat troops after a second rotation in mid-2008 the least popular option, with only 14 per cent support.
While public support remains split on the issue, the Government's position of staying as long as the Iraq Government wants us there was the most popular individual option, with 31 per cent support. Twenty-six per cent of respondents supported a definite timetable for withdrawal and 23per cent wanted Australia's troops withdrawn immediately.'

Is it just me or is this an odd reading? Considering that Labor want to withdraw, and the majority of Australians want to withdraw also, then isn't it the Government that's on the wrong side of the Iraq debate? If anything, Labor are against the tide for not wanting to withdraw soon enough.