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A New Hope?
Nov. 25th, 2007 10:21 amSaw the changing of the guard with a couple of friends last night in Redfern, then we headed out into the streets of Newtown to join the street party.
Notable bits... the DJ in Newtown who said to the crowd "It's not so much that Labor won, it's that Howard lost!"... the amount of stuff people could find to throw at the video screen during JH's concession speech ~ hats, shoes, cans, newspapers, how-to-vote leaflets, more shoes. There'll be a few people scouring the pavement outside The Hub this morning looking for their Docs & Converse... The Liberal member about to lose his seat who claimed that Labor had "bussed a lot lot of people into the electorate..." & that's why he wasn't doing well, though refusing to concede. Ummm, right!... Kerry O' Brien gradually losing all semblence of patience with the noisy crowds in the National Tally Room. His on-air comments about it got increasingly testy as the night went on... Since when do they let an audience into the National Tally Room anyway??!!
It seems that, just like the '96 election, this one was pretty personal. Howard came to power by virtue of his not being Paul Keating, who had alienated his colleagues, peers & the electorate by being arrogant, bloody-minded & blinkered. Sound familiar? Rudd has done the same thing 11 years later ~ getting the job simply by dint of not being John Howard. In '96 the Liberals were cagey about releasing details of their policies. In '07 Labor has been the same, adopting a me-too approach, but being just different enough to seem like a real alternative. Underspending the Liberals in their Promises Package was, I'll admit, a smart thing to do, as it made it look like they weren't buying your vote.
Now that they're in, it will be interesting to see what those policies turn out to be & how they're implemented & when/if.
My one little rumble of concern is the Labor party itself ~ a notoriously factional beast that snaps at itself like a pack of starving dogs. There has been little evidence of that during the campaign, but I wonder what power-struggles & compromises on policy & direction will have to be made in or ex-camera to placate the various wings enough to keep them flying.
We shall watch his career with great interest...
By the way ~ can we claim some credit for the mood of the nation? Check out the song & sing along!!
Notable bits... the DJ in Newtown who said to the crowd "It's not so much that Labor won, it's that Howard lost!"... the amount of stuff people could find to throw at the video screen during JH's concession speech ~ hats, shoes, cans, newspapers, how-to-vote leaflets, more shoes. There'll be a few people scouring the pavement outside The Hub this morning looking for their Docs & Converse... The Liberal member about to lose his seat who claimed that Labor had "bussed a lot lot of people into the electorate..." & that's why he wasn't doing well, though refusing to concede. Ummm, right!... Kerry O' Brien gradually losing all semblence of patience with the noisy crowds in the National Tally Room. His on-air comments about it got increasingly testy as the night went on... Since when do they let an audience into the National Tally Room anyway??!!
It seems that, just like the '96 election, this one was pretty personal. Howard came to power by virtue of his not being Paul Keating, who had alienated his colleagues, peers & the electorate by being arrogant, bloody-minded & blinkered. Sound familiar? Rudd has done the same thing 11 years later ~ getting the job simply by dint of not being John Howard. In '96 the Liberals were cagey about releasing details of their policies. In '07 Labor has been the same, adopting a me-too approach, but being just different enough to seem like a real alternative. Underspending the Liberals in their Promises Package was, I'll admit, a smart thing to do, as it made it look like they weren't buying your vote.
Now that they're in, it will be interesting to see what those policies turn out to be & how they're implemented & when/if.
My one little rumble of concern is the Labor party itself ~ a notoriously factional beast that snaps at itself like a pack of starving dogs. There has been little evidence of that during the campaign, but I wonder what power-struggles & compromises on policy & direction will have to be made in or ex-camera to placate the various wings enough to keep them flying.
We shall watch his career with great interest...
By the way ~ can we claim some credit for the mood of the nation? Check out the song & sing along!!
