Friday, June 21, 2013

Kevin Rudd's popularity is overrated

There's a helluva lot of chatter now about how Julia Gillard will be gone very soon. Clearly many in Labor believe that Rudd really is their best hope of saving the furniture. Some also believe they can beat the Coalition with him at the helm again.

Frankly I think this talk about him being a possible saviour is way over the top. As numerous columnists have pointed out, many of Labor's worst policy disasters actually began under him and not Gillard. And the Libs will be reminding us of that at every opportunity, no doubt. Also, the fact that he gets mobbed by fans in shopping centres doesn't necessarily mean that people will vote for him in droves.

There's something quite strange going on there, actually. It's more to do with mass hysteria than politics. It's kinda like what happens when One Direction are in town and all the schoolgirls go absolutely spacko for the cameras. Part of the reason they do that is because they've seen others do it on previous TV reports. It's a conditioned behaviour; a kind of ritual.

Another example: Gangnam Style. It's a very catchy song with a unique energy about it. And everybody has fun joining in with those signature horse-riding moves. 

Being the outrageous media tart that he is, the former PM has managed to imprint his nerdy and avuncular persona on pretty much the entire Australian population. We've all seen him yucking it up with everyday Aussies in shopping centres right across the land. So taking a selfy while arm-in-arm with the Ruddster and saying "Kevin come back!" for the attendant news cameras just seems like the thing to do.

Many of the same folk being caught up in the circus-like atmosphere that surrounds KRudd on his flesh-pressing jaunts will be in a much more serious frame of mind on election day, however. As a result only his most ardent supporters will actually vote for Labor if he's the leader. And there actually aren't that many of them.

Still, decimation is preferable to near extinction. Which is why the ALP should, and almost certainly will, go back to him. 

6 comments:

  1. KRudd alias Kevni is a self-opinionated, foul mouthed little narcissist who is largely the author of what Julia Gillard has continued to the detriment of this country. The ALP of today is not the party of which both my grandfather and father were members. Near extinction is probably the only way any semblance of what was once a viable alternative government party to a conservative one can be resurrected. Decimation, the elimination of one in ten, is nowhere near sufficient.

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  2. And so it came to pass...
    Well done, Labor. You've traded the queen of victim politics for a recycled megalomaniac.
    Rudd's popularity is not simply overrated - it appears to be almost completely manufactured. His visit to Geelong a few weeks ago was accompanied by a busload of core fans from outside of the area. It was these people, according to one source, who mobbed Kruddfuhrer and begged photos. Not the local citizens.
    The voters want an election and if Rudd reneges on Jooolya's September 14 timetable he'll only give people more time to remember what a destructive and incompetent leader he was the first time around.

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    1. Gregory#6 you are being far too kind to the foul mouthed, narcissistic little wanker. His little outburst about "boat policy" and conflict with Indonesia should be enough to jolt those who may have forgotten his traits back to reality. The rest can be written off anyway as they would vote for an earthworm if it was presented as the Labor leader.

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    2. I've been accused of a great many things, David, but you're the first to accuse me of being kind to Kevin Rudd.
      Here's a little something I prepared earlier, as they say. A brief slide show to celebrate (and I use the word advisedly) his second anniversary as PM.
      It hasn't had much attention over the last few years. But as Labor proved themselves this week, everything old is new again.

      7 For Kevin07

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    3. I didn't mean to offend you G#6 by suggesting you were too kind to the Krudd [or is that Crud?]. Love your little slide show though. Depicts the Little Wanker to a T. Not too sure about the Hitler style right hand in the air though - perhaps he has delusions of grandeur beyond what I thought. My father and four of his five brothers fought that ideology in the Australian Armed Forces between '39 and '45.

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  3. Not offended at all, David. I got a good laugh from your comment.
    Kevin Uber Alles was the first of a few dozen motivators I did with Kruddfuher and Jooolya. That was about four years ago. I made the motivator at Automotivator (http://wigflip.com/automotivator/ - they deserve a plug) and soon afterwards I deleted the original pic from my hard drive.
    I have looked for it online several times since but it seems to have been wiped from the face of the internet. Which suggests that a certain four-eyed national leader might have seen my motivator and blown a ratfucking fuse.
    I certainly hope so.

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