Rudd vs Turnbull

Am I the only person in Australia who thinks Rudd is being short-sighted in persisting in chasing Turnbull over the Auscar fiasco?

Surely if Rudd pushes too hard on Turnbull, it is more likely that the libs will panic and dump Turnbull.

Short -term victory for Rudd might sound attractive, but lets not forget that Costello has not yet left Parliament. Rudd's strategy could play into Cossie's hand - sitting there, sulking, and just waiting to be "drafted" by the party which refused to go begging to him before.

With the prospect of drafting Andrew Robb being seriously considered (apparently), then the prospect of drafting Costello must surely be a better alternative (for them).

Costello would give Rudd a much closer run (if not be a walk-up start for victory) than Turnbull.

So, in my opinion, Rudd is better served by leaving a weakened Turnbull sitting there, than pushing the Libs so hard that they panic and dump Turnbull and go begging to Costello.

The desire to rub Turnbull's nose in the ignomy of an abject apology is understandable. But Rudd risks over-playing his hand.

Peter Costello - the Man who never was.

This man's dream is over.Peter Costello, young student activist as a student at Monash; pushy Lawyer who won the Dollar Sweets case and the Mudginberri abbatoir case against the meat Workers Union; young Parliamentarian; Treasurer of this country for an interminable period; "Leader in waiting" for most of that time - has finally realised he never was as good as he liked to think he was.

That is something which many of us have known for a very long time.

Go away, Peter.

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EDITOR'S NOTE:

I ought thank Bernard Keane for plagiarising my title.
Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. I published at 9:15 pm last night. This item came out in Crikey at 1:49 pm today.

1 . The man who never was: Peter Costello closes the door

Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane writes:

Oh well, at least the rest of his article is his own work.

Denis

Another one bites the dust.

According to the ABC Radio News on Friday evening, the National Party Leader in the Senate, Ron Boswell has announced he will also step down. Actually, he has been dumped by his State Executive (Nationals, Queensland)

The reason? He was apparently too close the Liberals (indeed he was).

It also means that Barnaby Joyce might be promoted. He says so, anyway.

• "Senator Joyce says he is hoping to be promoted.
  "That is for my colleagues to decide and I look forward to their support if I can get it," he said.
  "I am certainly standing for Senate leader, I make no qualms about that."
• (source: ABC News - Brisbane Regional bulletin).

As the caption says: Another one bites the dust.
The shock-waves of the election results keep on rolling along.

By the way, Costello said today that the Liberal Party missed the chance to present a fresh face (his, of course). He also said what we all knew he would say, sooner of later. He is not going to serve out the full term. What a shock?

The most interesting statement is by Senator Judith Troeth.

Who?

Apparently she has been a Senator for Victoria since 1993. Amazing how some people can have been around that long, but not ever be heard from. Anyway, I digress. The ABC's News site reports:

• "Meanwhile, senior Liberal Senator Judith Troeth has accused several colleagues of hijacking the party in a failed effort to make Mr Costello the next prime minister.

• "Senator Troeth has served as a Victorian Senator since 1993.

• "She has told the ABC's Stateline program that a small group in Victoria over the past decade ensured candidates were preselected because they supported Mr Costello's bid for the Lodge.

• "She says it lead to the Coalition's downfall at the recent election."

It just keeps on getting "interestinger and interestinger"

The Day after D Day

Well, the news of the demise of the Howard "Government of Shame" is well and truly published. My Canadian mate, Leo has sent me this email critique (already).

Hi Denis,

Apparently you lot follow the great Can-eh-djun tradition of voting against, rather than for. Or do you only have 2 parties? Anyways, I hope your new b*stard works out better for you than our new b*stard has for us. ie keeps to the principles which he has espoused over the long term (not necessarily the same ones as he may have campaigned on!) More to the point, hope your new one has principles (and continues to have) ...

Its a timely comment (prescient, 0ne could say).
Miss Eagle and I have already have a similar discussion via her blog.

The really interesting thing is what is starting to happen in the Liberal Party, after Howard stubbornly led them to a crippling defeat.

Fireworks within the Liberal Party,
AFTER THEIR ELECTORAL DEFEAT

Alex Downer admitted on the ABC Insiders program this morning that he has expected the defeat. That admission begs the question as to why the Party power brokers were too pathetic to challenge Howard.

Peter Costello (Treasurer and Deputy-Leader of the Liberal Party) has today announced that he will not seek the position of "Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition".
What a wimp! It confirms the impression of how weak he always was (refusing to challenge Howard, when he had the chance).
But are we surprised? Hardly.

Costello enjoyed the power of office too much, and when looking at his "former Young Liberals" and Victorian Branch "power-broker" pal Michael Kroger, Costello must see it as being just too easy and too attractive to enter business, and make a killing.

• "I want to spend more time with my family ... They have paid a heavy price."
• Mr Costello inferred that he would enter business once he left politics, but said initially he would continue to serve voters in his Melbourne seat of Higgins and mentor new MPs.

Hmm, The prospect of Peter spending more time with them might be an even heavier price to pay...

I am predicting Joe Hockey might get the job, over Turnbull, and Abbott, Nelson (surely not even the Libs could be so stupid!) At least Joe looks cuddly, and won't scare the kiddies!

Costello's "Substance" abuse problem.

Peter Costello has a "Substance" abuse problem.

In the report in today's "Age", we find Peter Costello claiming: "Substance is what counts, you've got to have substance in politics if you are going to deliver jobs and successful businesses," he said.
Source: The Age - Fairfax Digital - 14 September 2007

Given that the main body of the article (and the Headline) is about "Rudd "arrogance" - out of control", the concluding sentence (quoted above) amounts to "substance abuse". In that report, there is not a single word of substance issued by Mr Costello, just abuse of Mr Rudd.

Costello's ideas of "Substance" apparently are limited to abusive words: Arrogance, Triumphalism, Arrogance and then a prediction that the Labor Party's new advertising campaign "will not get much traction with (sic) the electorate".

This amounts to "Substance Abuse".

PM acts to spread the blame for his failure.

You have to hand it to PM, John Howard. He is a cunning rat.

Tonight he has come out and said that he will retire during the next term of Parliament if he is elected. And that he would expect to hand over to Peter Costello. Well, that's hardly a surprise. The Labor Party has been predicting that for ages.

"I would probably certainly form the view, well into my term, that it makes sense for me to retire and in those circumstances I would expect - although it would be a matter for the party to determine - that Peter would take over," Mr Howard said.

"Now that's the honest position."

Source: ABC News Website

Whether or not that statement is "honest", it is not just a statement to be taken at face value. So, what is he really saying?

As I see it, this means he is taking Costello at his word, that he and Howard are a "team" (right? - NOT). So, if the poll results - as predicted - come true, then Howard can say that it was not just he who lost the election, but Howard and Costello, and that the people have rejected them both.

All the polling shows that the public like Costello as Treasurer, but do not want Costello as leader. So that's what Howard is explicitly promising us.

It an amazing strategy. He is really prepared to wreck the entire party to spite Costello's faltering leadership ambitions.

Howard "Old, Desperate and Sneaky"

Hey, its not my wording - its straight from the Sunday Telegraph.
In fact it is a screaming headline, on Page One.

And even Glen Milne (the journalist involved) can claim, as he does, that these are the conclusions from a poll done by the Labor Party, but "obtained by" the Sunday Telegraph.

Cute expression that one: not "leaked to", but "obtained by".

I suggest that you read the full article (use link above).

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I must say, I am surprised that the Labor Party would so obviously release something as potentially damaging to Howard, vis-a-vis Costello. They must also have polling which tells them they are even more likely to win against Costello than Howard. Risky gamble, that one, I think.

Howard is definitely "on the nose". While he is sneaky, and tricky, he is definitely not able to experience a "honeymoon" effect, which could just happen with Costello, should the Liberals decide to dump Howard prior to the election.

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Now here is an interesting challenge for crikey.com.au

Normally they would headline this story - in tomorrow's edition. They love all this political controversy, and internecine Liberal Party politics, especially Costello stories (they usually refer to him as "The Smirk").

But the article is written by Glen Milne, who is memorable for his "apparent assault" on Crikey's founder Stephen Mayne, at a televised Walkey Awards ceremony earlier in the year - on account of Milne's obvious dissatisfaction with Mayne's entitlement to the award he was given. The link above takes you to the Age's report of the Awards, and photo and discussion of the "incident".

You can even follow this link to see it all, over and over again, on YouTube

How forgiving is Stephen Mayne? We shall see tomorrow.