Over at The Drumroll, I’ve contributed to a review of the week that was:
The third week of Australia’s first fully postmodern election campaign zoomed past at its now customary speed. At the start, we were treated to the authenticity debate – who was being real? Julia vowed to tear up the script, and accused Tony of being a phony. Labor tried to rejig its campaign, as the message from the polls sunk in – the elusive few primary points that would establish the Coalition as electoral favourites were finally in the bag. So, one undertone of this week’s campaign was the contest over underdog status – which determined the non-result of the debate about the debates. As if this wasn’t confusing enough, the spectres of the two leaders of 2007 finally manifested. Kevin Rudd gave an interview to Phillip Adams on Wednesday night, self-deprecating and resilient. He re-emerged in the full glare of the television cameras on Thursday afternoon, in an appearance co-ordinated with the Labor campaign. Labor people with Labor values coming together. As if on cue, John Howard popped up, to give what one commenter described as his “demonic blessings” to the Opposition Leader, at more or less the same time as Julia Gillard sat next to Cardinal Pell as he called down divine blessings on Mary McKillop’s land. What comes next? It’s meaningless to talk of weeks won and lost as if voters weighed these up in the balance. Either side could win, and judging by what we’ve seen so far, anything could happen.
Please tread this post as a Roundtable thread where you can discuss the week in review. Please note, though, that this thread is not intended to be about random campaign observations, or the latest news. Such comments can go on the latest Election Roundtable thread.
I’ve just come back from three weeks in Africa, and I can’t say I’ve missed this unedifying spectacle. Labor have been worse than useless and frankly – though I shudder at the thought – it will serve them right if Abbott wins, and hopefully prompt a rethink about maybe, I don’t know, standing for something. It’s like they’ve forgotten why they want to *be* in govt in the first place, merely that it’s a good thing. Pathetic. Abbott and his winged monkeys, at least, I expect to be reactionary idiots.
I hear that Oakes has a big story on tonight’s Channel 9 news
John’s back. As joyful & entertaining & subtle as ever.
Motivated me to write a not so diplomatic post…add memory & tribute music.
TGIF Music: Echoes From An Old Guard Rodent Nest
cafewhispers.wordpress.com/…/
Awesome memories. What a legacy!
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Whoops!
http://cafewhispers.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/tgif-music-echoes-from-an-old-guard-rodent-nest/
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Tonight’s ABC1 News continues to reveal snippets which I think make an addition to my post in Roundtable #9 -
To add to the mythological story being unfolded we had vision of Julia Gillard being fitted with a lost shoe which fitted her perfectly – a reprisal of the story of Cinderella? It was handed to her by a male who may or may not have been acting as proxy for Tony Abbott (one of the Ugly Sisters?) who may have tried it on but found it didn’t fit.
Tony Abbott will obviously believe and say that “Julia’s faking it” as he has done a couple of times during the campaign. The use and meaning of the phrase “faking it” will be familiar to those who have worked in the area of Domestic Violence with the same kind of accusations levelled at women who present to those services. It is unfortunate that Tony Abbott continues to use terminology which is so prevalent in many womens’ issues and resonates in a way he presumably would wish to avoid during the campaign..
Another item in the same news showed a clip of Malcolm Fraser being asked by an interviewer (Fran Kelly on Radio National this morning) whether Tony Abbott was competent to govern. Malcolm Fraser’s response was “No” – which he repeated, “No”. Now Malcolm’s “No” obviously meant “No” but will Tony Abbott believe Fraser as he did Julia?
John Howard’s reappearance reminded me of The Grim Reaper but in actuality was almost a repeat of the table-thumping appearances we knew so well from his dealing with indigenous Australians in the past. He does go over the top when he thinks he has to prove a point.
I’m not sure as yet on how to read Mark’s comments on “demonic blessings” or “divine blessings”. I’ll have to wait to see the bolt of lightening I guess or consult the entrails of the chicken we are about to prepare.
Just a reminder that this thread is about making an overall assessment of the campaign, not the latest developments, which can go on the most recent election roundtable thread.
Labor attained the ascendency by weeks end, courtesy of KRudd’s heroic self control, which allowed a shift to Labor the economic managers re GFC abatament. Schools waste is down the gurgler. The libs can’t maintain the illusion and are starting to look like crap.
My daughters school is public, and didnt have to get some off-the-shelf- hall they didnt want. They got major and necessary renos to existing buildings instead.
How much of this anti-BER stuff is complete guff? 98%?
If this is a fully postmodern election campaign it reveals the dreadful sterility of that way of life and probably any mode of analysis predicated on it.
The theory of ideology used to be grounded in interests, now it’s loosely moored to fairytales.
I wonder if the BER rip offs line is going to lose some of its effect now. I just saw the auditor make a statement that the plan achieved its objectives i.e. simulate the economy and build school infrastructure.
Is is just me or are the ugly attack ads starting to look a bit strange? I wonder if they continue or if there is another line coming think Tony Abbott family man, lover of animals …
gregh @7
Correct.
Australian Treasury thinks BER was a good idea, OECD thinks BER was a good idea, prominent US Economists think BER is a good idea, Audit Report says BER went well and achieved its objectives.
The only organisation on the planet that thinks the BER was a bad thing is the Liberal Party of Australia and, surprise, they are the only ones with self-interest in saying so.
I suppose we have a link between Mark’s notion of general impressions, with the specific instance exposed by MediaTracker; the default misuse of imaging for button pushing purposes with the public that coincides with complete abandonment of issues, these being too much of a problem for the system in that their evocation in the minds of the public as to recall of reality based issues (eg lack of social spending and domestic violence).
Neoliberalism can best survive in a ACA/TDT world causing mass inorance, decontextulisation, illiteracy and fear, so the best way the public can be dislocated from reality is thru the “Murdoch” election of 2010.
So, pomo’s the go… In this case, the retrieval by the system of jingoism, sexism, classism, tribalism and racism; atavistic remnants of modernism, that erode the democratic and multi cultural call to rational use of resources to a purposes, against the pomo economy of excess that not only cotton wools the electorate from reality but the bosses themselves, as to to responsibilities beyond that owed by the individual to the anti social private/public organistion they work for.
The BER looks like it was the right thing and Rudd made a strong showing for the ALP this week.
Abbott and his chums stumbled a bit and bringing Howard out was a massive mistake.
Looking at it through the mass media lens I have to call this week as a win for the Coalition.
Congrats guys.
ALP. Must. Try. Harder.
Suspect that much of the public is starting to tune out and takes the return of Rudd as a reminder that the guys running the ALP are idiots for ditching him in the first place. Labor had to bring back in to defend their legacy but they now have to square that with Julia and moving forward.
The week was a mess for the ALP. Spent the week watching my breath and planning a long walk. Democracy continues to wither under an assault from class interests outside the ALP and Aarons’ “hollow men” inside.
Leinad @ 14: Can’t Gillard and Rudd Move Forward Together?
I harbored a fond, foolish and fanciful hope that at the very least these two good people could get their heads together and come up with a very plausible story about Rudd having refused for months now to admit that he was ailing, to himself and to others. The two significant women in his life had tried, God knows, to get him to see sense and slow down. Finally Julia was pressed to challenge by party brokers tearing their hair about polls and she sat down with honest John Faulkner there to mediate and told Rudd that if he still wouldn’t listen then she’d ‘have to take control’ – he wouldn’t – so she did. Only when his gall bladder had finally taken enough punishment and he was laid low did K Rudd finally admit to himself and to Therese, and now to Julia that they had both been right. Now he was willing to see the error of his ways. Now he was willing to change.
At least a third of the men and almost two thirds of the women in the country would have believed that, having watched the MSM do a very dirty job on Rudd for months on end, including mocking him relentlessly for vowing to ‘work harder’ in the face of all their carping criticism. Some of us are just like Rudd ourselves. Some of us have been married to someone like him.
Would that have been so hard? After all, the gall bladder attack was real. We could all now be making sympathetic noises instead of exasperated ones. Then we leftie types wouldn’t have to suffer Tony Abbott looking Prime Ministerial in conference with the President of Nauru with Julie Bishop, smug, self satisfied and simpering beside him, while he patronisingly left the ALP team to play out its ‘soap opera’!!
PS I am no longer maintaining rage against Malcolm Fraser.
andyc@16. They can say they are moving forward all they like. They may even mean it.
But the media narrative is set because Julia didn’t look at him enough at the meeting. (Mind you if she had then the media could have hah a lot of fun with it. “Julia stares down serial leaker.” “Julia looks adoringly at her rescuer” etc etc)