Tuesday 22 April 2008

NELSON HITS HARD.. with cute wittle wabbit!

I must say, I love the title of an article in The Age online this afternoon:



I think someone's feeling a little cocky after their achievement of (woo hoo!!) double figures in the latest poll (Preferred PM: Nelson up 1% to 10%; Rudd 71%):

"Mr Rudd, a little bit like the old cartoon character Crusader Rabbit, has gone from the bionic eye and one-stop childcare in 2020, to now telling us that he suddenly wants to see tax reform in Australia,'' Dr Nelson said.

Hmm. Could this be because of a 2020 summit which considered ideas for the future on the weekend?

(And doesn't Crusader Rabbit look really, really cute!!! Look at him there! Chest all puffed out, ears perky and eyes wide with enthusiasm! Gosh. To be compared with that will hurt Rudd's popularity!)





Look out. He has another strong point to make:

"It's worth remembering that the last significant reform to Australian taxation, that was undertaken by John Howard and Peter Costello, was vehemently opposed by Mr Rudd. "On the day that the Goods and Services Tax was introduced, Mr Rudd said it was a day of fundamental injustice."


He considers adding a new tax to an archaic and overly complex tax system "significant reform".


Why oh why do they let him speak?


And why oh why did they make him leader?


I can only think that the Lib's plan has been: to have a weak leader after such a strong leader as Howard, in order to make the guy that comes after him (ie. their real next leader) look really good by comparison.

Nelson has probably actually been encouraged to swing on playground equipment and to sing (literally) his own praises on radio (and will I ever get that darn "You and Brendan Nelson!!!!" ditty out of my head?!!).

I don't think there's ever been any kind of poll that's put Nelson as the most popular choice for leader. In fact, Mr Mostly 7-9% was achieving these figures immediately after the election when there was a poll regarding who should be the next Liberal leader. Yes. He achieved 8%, not when compared to a new and most popular PM ever in his 'honeymoon period'. But merely when compared to other choices within his own party:

Poll

Who should be the new leader of the Liberal Party?

Peter Costello - 16%

Tony Abbott - 10%

Brendan Nelson - 8%

Malcolm Turnbull - 49%

Julie Bishop - 18%

Total Votes: 11637



Well, yeah. Let's pick the one who got THE LOWEST votes! I mean, even creepy Tony Abbott was more popular!!!


The latest:
38per cent of Coalition voters wanted Mr Costello to be Opposition leader with Mr Turnbull as his deputy. Only 26 per cent of Coalition respondents backed the current leadership line-up of Dr Nelson and Julie Bishop.

Although, The Australian also reports that these "findings coincide with growing backbench concern that the ambitious Mr Turnbull needs more experience before qualifying for leadership."


Yeah, well, OK... But my argument's good too!!!