Can John Howard pull it out?
James Campbell 9:06pm
John Howard has been trailing in the polls for months and time finally seemed to be up for the Australian PM. But under the headline 'Lazarus Stirs' the Sydney Morning Herald has a poll showing a swing back to Howard at the end of the first week of the Australian election campaign. Although Labor is still in front by an election-winning margin of 54-46% the gap is closing. The result is mirrored in News Ltd's polling which has Labor up to 53-47%. However the government's best news came from the preferred Prime Minister rating which has closed a massive 9 points in the last two weeks. Despite nearly being dumped by his party less than a month ago and having conceded that he will retire some time in the next term, Howard is now only 4 points behind Kevin Rudd as the electorate’s preferred PM. This is the rock-ribbed conservative’s best result since December and will have Labor deeply worried. With the slogan 'Kevin 07' their campaign is All-Rudd all-the-time. If the punters are souring on their man they are in big trouble.
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Ottavio - http://www.americasinterests.blogspot.com/
October 18th, 2007 11:08pmYes, he can and this writer is hoping he does. People are divided about Labor's economic credentials, and this will weigh on minds come Nov 24. Disappointing that the margin did not close further given the hefty tax cuts announced on Day 1 of the campaign, but sometimes people can be nonchalant about cuts to tax. The latest polls suggest that although the task remains difficult it is far from impossible.
Lee Jakeman
October 19th, 2007 1:39amJohn Howard is the West's most outspoken and intelligent defender. Sometimes I think he's the only one standing between Western values and lunacy.
Nicholas Bray
October 19th, 2007 2:04amAnything's possible, but this writer hopes that on polling day Australian voters will remember that Howard has squandered billions of dollars in bribing voters while letting infrastructure and essential services crumble. He has presided over an economy, rather than guided a society.
David Lindsay
October 19th, 2007 9:49amThe world will soon be rid of John Howard. Rejoice! The incoming Australian Government will no doubt hold another referendum on abolishing the monarchy (any party has to appease certain interests), but will no doubt endure another No vote. After all, by rejecting Howard, Australians will have rejected every anti-monarchist argument, not least "meritocracy" (that those with wealth and paper qualifications should determine merit, on the basis of wealth and paper qualifications), globalisation (with its erosion of national and local differences), and, within that, enforced conformity to the culture (in a horribly debased form) and to the geopolitical interests of the United States. Nothing could better encapsulate that rejection than another vote to retain the institution that, across so many Realms and Territories, stands for and embodies something so much better, so much nobler, so much more humane. God Save The Queen!
puraws
October 20th, 2007 4:32amYesterday's talk back radio on ABC with a former Labour heavy weight and former ACT Chief Minister made sense regarding these dramatic poll results. The Labour person correctly said a difference exceeding 4% between Rudd and Howard would imply the Liberal party itself would be annihalted - not just a landslide vctory for Labour. Hence 4% is the critical factor for Rudd to win. Anything more on the polls is as nonsensical as Rudd's fixit magic wand. And which newspaper magnate is behind the polls, we ask?