You’d recall phrases similar to that one from John Howard on many an occasion, when asked about opinion polls. It’s actually a fairly good practice for pollies not to comment on the polls, and we’ve seen Labor members recite by rote “polls go up and down” on tonight’s news. But, as Tim Watts points out at Tree of Knowledge, Brendan Nelson does seem to be trashing this particular part of the Howard legacy:
Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson says the latest opinion poll shows Australians are starting to “see through” Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
This is all kinds of stupid.
How’s Nelson going to respond if the next Newspoll isn’t in his favour (as if 17% on an electorally meaningless indicator is)? Is he going to parse every single poll – what does he think of Morgan’s 60% 2PP to the ALP? Hasn’t he just tied his leadership to Newspoll? And don’t these comments suggest that all his emoting over the last fortnight was designed cynically to move these numbers, rather than feel the pain of Tarrago-driving wheelchair bound folk?
Emo Man might discover that living in Shanahan-world is not that clever a move.
Elsewhere: Possum graphically illustrates the truth of the matter.
Nelson’s top advisers are Tom Switzer (ex-News) and Peter Hendy, two strategic geniuses who still think WorkChoices was great policy.
Hmm, he’s getting a bit above himself isn’t he?
I hope you’re on a nice retainer from ALP National Headquarters, Mark, for these posts you write.
Having made some very good points in the past about the way the media focusses on politicians’ day-to-day soundbite fluff rather than substantive long-term issues, I cannot, for the life of me, work out why you’re wasting time critiquing Nelson’s throw-away lines for the media.
Nelson’s comment is just a way of saying “Hey, everyone, look at me, over here! I’m Leader of the Opposition, you know, and I might still be next week too.” *shrug*
And while I’m on the topic of Nelson, I’ve been wondering for a long time why he’s getting such sustained and merciless criticism here at LP. Sure, the guy is a policy lightweight, and his whole strategy seems to consist of inept attempts to play to the media.
But on the other hand, he’s probably the most left-wing leader the Libs have had in living memory, and he’s not playing anything like the role Howard played on culture and symbolic issues. At least for his stance on Kyoto and the Stolen Generation, I’d have thought he’d have got a smidgen of respect from LP people for reversing the Libs’ move to the right. But apparently not.
My criticism of Nelson is not that he’s leftwing, but that he’s a flake. His positions on Kyoto and the Stolen Generations were not positions of principle but attempts to have it both ways. All attempts to attract attention are not equally worthy of recognition or respect.
His ‘apology’ speech was absolutely shameful.
A complete and utter disgrace.
I couldn’t believe someone could throw away such a prime opportunity, handed to him on a plate by his rival no less, to give a dignified and gracious input.
Instead we got racist insulting rubbish.
No excuses.
Yep, I’m not buying Nelson as some sort of tonic for the rightward move of the Libs under Howard. Both Andrew E and hannah’s dad are spot on. The apology speech wasn’t just a disgrace, but also pathetic. If he thinks everyone can forget that with all his nonsense about sitting in the gutter at 3am, and five seater Tarragos with wheelchairs in the back, he can forget about it.
Paulus
One choosing to support Nelson would be supporting what exactly?
The only policy I can remember being different from the government we voted out is 5c off petrol.
Encouraging him on the basis of ideology – no thanks. I’ll check and asses his policies thanks.
Looks like I’ll be waiting a while.
No, onimod, there’s precious little we’ve heard from Nelson so far that deserves any form of support. FWIW, I think he’s basically good-natured and reasonably smart, but also quite weak compared to both Rudd and Howard. The “attempts to have it both ways”, as Andrew E described it, are no doubt a consequence of trying to please everyone within the Liberal camp and outside, which ends up pleasing no one.
That said, maybe he’ll mature into a more substantial political figure, if given the time. Maybe.
Nelson – all air, no balloon.
I have personal experience of the man having helped care for his brother.
Brendan was nowhere to be seen.
Heh – I know a person who owns a tarago-like vehicle with a wheelchair in the back (for her disabled daughter), not sure if she votes Labor, Greens or Democrat but she sure doesn’t vote Liberal!
Sorry, Brendan!
Nelson is the perfect example of the ‘unbearable lightness of being’ that afflicts the moderately talented with soaring ambitions. No amount of Switzer or Hendy can fix that up. BTW, I didn’t know that both of them worked for him. How absolutely fabulous! A pair of truly nasty conspiracists, either side of emo man, both trying to combine what they would regard as policy ’substance’ with enough populist sh*te to please what they regard as the great unwashed. 17% is going to look quite good down the track. What an absolute prat.
Now that Horatio has risen to the previously unimagined heights of 17%, the good news for Labor is that it might forestall any moves to have him replaced with someone with a little more substance, if not conviction.
Guess Nelson is yet again proving the proposition that our pollies are not all wise and all seeing. The best that can be said for him is he’s not a deluded megalomaniac like his former leader. And yes, his credentials on the Apology are disgraceful. Suppose that Nick Minchin’s fault. For all their faults, (and they’re growing by the day)compared to Bumbles’ crew Rudd and his minions still look like they might have the answers to many of our problems, though not all.