Word: rudds
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...things Kevin Rudd claims to have discovered during his time in politics is that Australians can spot a fraud at 50 paces. "Be who you are," Rudd tells interviewers who ask about his public image or leadership style. The needle on an Aussie fake detector, however, can swing wildly if the device gets too close to a white-hot political marvel. On a recent sunny morning, Rudd is scheduled to visit a school in Prime Minister John Howard's Sydney electorate. He's running late. Two dozen reporters and photographers are gathered in an arc near the school's entrance...
Glee abounds on the Labor side of Australian politics. The Opposition is high on a bubble of sparkling opinion polls. Bring on the election! Party leader Kevin Rudd speaks and moves with the authority of an alternative Prime Minister, something his folk have not heard and seen for some time. Last week in Canberra, P.M. John Howard delivered a talk called "Building Prosperity: The Challenge of Economic Management." Same night, same city, Rudd gave a speech on "Prosperity Beyond the Mining Boom" to a business lobby group. In the printed drafts, Rudd's speech is more tightly spaced...
...draw Howard even further out of his comfort zone, Labor is dropping in former TV presenter Maxine McKew to challenge the P.M. in his electorate of Bennelong in suburban Sydney. Did anyone really believe Labor's new prima ballerina would be wasted as a strategic operative in Rudd's huddle? The gregarious McKew will be a hit with voters, especially those who swing between Labor and the Greens. Perhaps those dwelling in cement-rendered Putney mansions will opt for the well-heeled woman from Mosman instead of the man from Kirribilli who invites Dick Cheney over for a beer. Every...
...Howard now, but they're not potent enough to kill his government in a real election, expected in the spring. In any case, the almost pathologically cautious Howard will start executing more of his master plan to win election No. 5. Those news professionals who are now tumbling out Rudd's backstory and his ideas for fixing Australia to educate a curious public, will soon move to a more searching examination of Labor and its policies...
...returning to taxpayers. Again, the simple rules of politics apply. While there's a great deal of public interest in water policy, WorkChoices, global warming, nuclear energy, education, health and national security to keep the dinner conversations pumping, recent elections have always come down to the economy. Howard and Rudd want voters to remember their names when they think about words like "prosperity" and "future." Unemployment is at 4.5%; inflation seems to be in check, but another rise in interest rates is still possible. "Our economy is not a bunch of abstract statistics," Howard told his Menzies Research Centre audience...