Word: labors
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Rudd was accused of "me too-ism," but a more accurate term might have been "me-me-ism." The election wasn't about Labor vs. the Coalition. It wasn't about socialism vs. free-market liberalism. It was about Rudd the new leader, who had a MySpace page with thousands of registered friends, vs. Howard the old leader, who was, well, old. Rudd was all over the new media; he talked often of his plan to roll out a national high-speed broadband network. The self-described "big fan of baroque" went on FM rock radio, said...
...didn't go quite that way. With his seat looking lost to Labor, on Saturday night Howard congratulated Rudd, thanked sobbing supporters and said, "There is no prouder job in the world that anyone can occupy than being P.M. of this country." He said he took "full responsibility" for the Coalition's defeat. On Sunday, Costello made the surprise announcement that he would not stand for party leadership and would quit politics at the end of his term. The double knockout was a reminder that for the conservatives this election is not just a single defeat; it means a coast...
...Rudd said his team would start work at once on implementing Labor's program. He also vowed to break with party tradition and appoint all ministers himself rather than have them selected in factional horse-trading. But while Labor and the trade unions - which poured more than $30 million into his campaign - are now in Rudd's debt for saving them from oblivion, there are doubts that he'll be able to hold off the factional bosses who run the party's federal Caucus. Laborites who think the unions have too much influence in the Caucus may not be consoled...
...were reversed, no Liberal government would ever again attempt serious industrial-relations reform. But Rudd's program could be slowed by the Senate, which the Coalition will control for the next seven months. After July next year, it appears that Greens and Independents will hold the balance of power. Labor won many of its lower-house seats with Green preferences, and the Greens are much further to the left than Rudd. Greens Senator Kerry Nettle warned before the election that "We will be the hand on the shoulder of Kevin Rudd," but said "we will not block changes that head...
...Rudd left the stage in triumph Saturday night, some in the audience wondered whether he will maintain his Howard-like campaign face or become more Labor-like. The party's "true believers" hope, along with political commentator Robert Manne, that "when he gets into government, then we'll begin to see the differences again." Voters who swung to Labor only after Rudd moved toward the center may be praying those differences stay small...