One thing people might have noticed around LP is that we’re focusing less and less on the daily diet of the political news cycle, even if we do still think it’s worthwhile having a bit of fun poking holes in the wilder fantasies of the “media narrative”, and highlighting the comedy act that is the Liberal leadership wars. We’re trying to provide a wider smorgasbord of posts – from policy focused pieces to cultural stuff to all sorts of interesting and noteable things we pick up around the intertubes.
That’s very different from what political blogging was like in the Howard era. And that raises a broader question – why is there such a disconnect between the state of political journalism and anything that anyone actually cares too much about in the Rudd era? I think there are possibly two answers to that question.
The first is that a managerialist government deliberately downplays the politics of governing, and Rudd himself usually avoids sharpening the edges of any political knives, leaving the Liberals hoist on their own petard. This is classic state Labor style, and I still don’t think either the Liberal “strategists” or the commentariat get it. Effectively, if all the colour and movement is on the opposition side – leadership squabbles, hyperbolic pronouncements, noisy personal attacks, they get to fill the space of “politics” in the public mind – to the extent that anyone pays any attention to them at all, it’s a big turnoff. While the government looks calm and unruffled. Waiting for Costello might be a fun game for the meejah to play, but most Australians couldn’t give a flying freak.
Secondly, I think Rudd has us all fairly relaxed, if not entirely comfortable. The message that a lot of what goes on in the economy isn’t within the government’s control has been sold well – and the “we know what’s happening and we’re trying our best” mantra is a lot more effective a line than the Liberal expectations disappointed stuff. In the absence of job insecurity, and with a largely still robust labour market (at least among the swinging voters that count), the arcane disputes about the significance of the numbers don’t matter – that’s one big lesson from last year. I suspect that the pressure is now off with the change in the direction of rates, and I also suspect that there’s a psychological factor at work where the same people are paying off debt and feeling good about doing so after all the debt driven splurges of the Howard era cheap credit boom. And no one cares if the banks or big retailers complain about their profit margins – it’s incredibly bad pr and it’s playing into Swan’s hands.
As far as the political circus goes, I think it’s back at the level of a minority pastime in the Rudd era. I suspect that swinging voters were reacting as much against Howard’s hyper-politicisation of everything as anything else last year – constant rabbits out of hats, ranting and raving by Ministers, everything bar getting on with the job in the public mind. Rudd’s found the right point at which people are probably relaxed about it all, if not entirely comfortable with every aspect of their personal financial position.
I agree with all those points Mark, but would also add – not to buy into that bollocks “they’re not doing anything mantra” – that a) it’s very early days yet, and b) in the presence of a hostile senate we are yet to see Rudd’s true governing mettle. I will be interested to see what the future holds for Labor federaly.
“why is there such a disconnect between the state of political journalism and anything that anyone actually cares too much about in the Rudd era?”
Hmmm … what you really mean is why don’t Shanahan and Milne realise that there has been a change of government. Perhaps they are slow learners, but these two are not synonymous with political journalism, notwithstanding the obsessions of many on this blog with every word that is written in the Opposition Orifice. There are other, important, political journalists, such as Michelle Grattan and Laurie Oakes, and they write about relevant stuff.
Can I suggest also that this blog resurrects something that was last found in the Nation Review circa 1973, and that is the Mixmaster award for the most egregious mixed metaphor. Having made the suggestion, let me open the bidding with this beauty:
“Rudd himself usually avoids sharpening the edges of any political knives, leaving the Liberals hoist on their own petard”.
Oh, Spiros: “Nation Review”. Remember and weep. That was a blog-in-print.
patrickg, yep.
Spiros, I like to mix the odd metaphor! It’s a blog, dude, not composition class.
And I disagree about Oakes and Grattan (particularly) – they’re as much captives to the whole “media narrative” horse race thing as the News Limited pundits, even if they’re not so partisan and absurd. If you disagree, I’d be happy for you to find me anything sensible they’ve written on policy, Rudd style governance, or indeed anything that departs from conventional press gallery wisdom.
It’s also, as I’m suggesting, the fact that the Liberals haven’t realised they’re an opposition in terms of their approach to politics. They’re in the self same pattern as the Howard government was last year – stunts, hyperbole and internal dissension. All this comes across as noise, to the degree that anyone pays attention outside the political junkies. Rudd’s in the same mode as last year too, and it’s still working.
I’ve said it before – what the opposition needs to do is get out of the spotlight. No one cares if Brendan cares. He’s toast, but the “who will replace him” narrative is irrelevant, and whoever does (and don’t entirely discount him) will also go nowhere if they take a similar approach to opposition.
Most of the frontbenchers for instance very rarely say anything actually relevant to their actual portfolios. Every time they pop up in public they’re either talking about the Liberal Party or generalised negativity directed at Rudd. An approach to the Senate of consistent nay saying will compound this.
Those on the edge of any political knife may not be so relaxed, Rudd style, as they see themselves tossed out into the gutter, after loosing their OZ dream.
Just a thought who are “US” in the preamble
Mark, Grattan and Oakes define the conventional press galary wisdom so of course they aren’t to differ from it. But that doesn’t mean they are out of touch. (And no I am not going to substantiate that assertion. Someone else can do an exigesis of Oakes.)
As for what is actually going on, of course it’s different to last year. Then we had the stench of death of a decrepit regime.
Now we have birth and renewal (mixmaster alert). Mind you dieing Labor governments have a terrible stench.. See Iemma, M.
As for the Liberals, yes they have all the discipline of a football team on an end of season trip, but they might as well get it out of their system now. Nobody would pay them any attention no matter what they did.
In a year or so we will start to have the usual assortment of minor scandals and major bungles that come with any goverment. It will be politics as usual.
Well, I agree Mark – and what you say builds on the related “end of the Keating/ Howard era” thesis. I loved Keating’s own comment on Howard as a state police minister – at the scene of every crime.
I remember japing at LP, at the time, that he’d be “on about hoons” before too long. And then 2 months later he was!! It was unbelievable.
I still await the book on the media fiascos and MSM/ Blog flame wars which were certainly what I remember most about election 07.
“Secondly, I think Rudd has us all fairly relaxed, if not entirely comfortable.”
Yup. But I fear that the secret Rudd plan is to personally bore us all into submission. :-0
Clarencegirl,
So what is it especially you want the Rudd labor Government to do, to relieve your boredom?
Methinks that Mark may also be a bit more relaxed about his PhD drafts.
More comfortable with it, anyway, Terry, but not relaxing yet!
“This is classic state Labor style, and I still don’t think either the Liberal “strategists” or the commentariat get it.”
Yup, Beattie/Bracks/Brumby/Bligh are all very shrewd political operators (and what’s with the “B”?) who realised delivering services while pushing just enough long term vision to make you feel good about your state, and state of being, but not too nervous about where the overall narrative is going for the long term.
We’re now all budget-balancing ideology-free technocrats sailing global currents now.
Hate to be a wet blanket in this shaggy dog story but what about the NT? And NSW? And Taswegia?
Putting WA to one side…
Then there’s the UK and USA widening democratic-socialist disaster areas.
IMHO these nasty symptoms of death, doom and decay all point to a mid-life crisis of confidence in a stream of thought that’s lost its way and thus its chief selling point that is *product differentiation* for lack of a better analogy.
In places like Germany and Israel they’ve already effectively merged both major parties. Democratic -socialism looks like its dying. Smells like its dying.
Like Marxism 20 odd years ago, so clearly the ‘last-one-standing’ is extra-parliamentary, libertarian – socialism. Open source socialism baby.
I wonder what Centrebet would offer for a double-dissolution election in late 2009?
“But I fear that the secret Rudd plan is to personally bore us all into submission”
I think many have had quite enough excitement from governments lately and are perhaps wishing for what Warren Harding inimitably described as “a return to normalcy”.
However, I doubt the world is going to stop being exciting. Or at least not stopping getting just plain weirder.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/xxfactor/archive/2008/08/15/five-puppies-and-a-sex-slave.aspx
http://dragandabic.com/
http://futurefeedforward.com/front.php
We are less than twelve months into an electoral cycle, without any intevening news to enter the political landscape. Remember, Howard’s first year had Hanson, and Hawke’s had, well, Hawke-mania.
The first twelve months of Rudd has been fairly uneventful. That is probably by design, and maybe Rudd will continue to try and get governing under the radar. Like a 3-year long election campaign held during the Olympics.