I suspect this was some sort of pre-emptive strike to try to forestall any credit claiming by Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan if (as expected) the cash rate is cut by 25 points later today. The politics haven’t played out to script, with Nelson’s comments that he wouldn’t make such a call in government playing into Rudd’s hands.

But it was interesting to hear Nelson’s justification on Lateline last night. Nelson argued that he was reflecting what “many Australians” thought. For those who’ve been paying any attention to what he’s had to say since he became leader, that’s typical. He appears to regard himself as some sort of transmission belt. Hence all the emo-ting. It’s an intriguing view of political leadership because it completely eviscerates the notion of leadership itself. Perhaps it’s one reason why his own leadership is in so much trouble.

Speaking of which, Christian Kerr, who brings you “balance and fact”, occupies his column inches this morning deconstructing Peter Costello’s interjections in Question Time. Perhaps this is his own small contribution to balancing out the purported paucity of analysis on the part of bloggers. It’s really important for our nation’s destiny, after all, to parse Costello’s throw away lines every which way:

“Wow! What about the meaning of life?” Costello exclaimed.