In calling the election, Howard rebutted Labor’s slogan of ‘New Leadership’, by stating that Australia needs the right leadership. This is an intelligent way of deflecting attention on his age, and turning his experience into a plus. The debate then turns not on whether Howard has served for long enough, but whether he is still the best candidate. Given the fact that he is the incumbent, this is a good way of turning the nation’s economic success into a powerful election weapon.

For the fourth consecutive occasion, many lefties will be ringing their hands, believing that this time will surely will the end of their great anti-hero, the Prime Minister that up to now has managed to elude defeat time and time again. As we have pointed out many times, they have still yet be bitterly disappointed.

We say this particularly since the Coalition’s campaign will again focus on the economy, and who the voters can rely on to keep it strong. This campaign was so effective in 2004 that already we have seen the use of those infamous “L” plates used to describe the leader of the Opposition again. Coalition commercials will no doubt continually bombard our television sets with the same messages about the economy, just to make sure that everyone gets the idea. Those who think that this election is a foregone conclusion for Labor forget the fact that until now the Coalition has conserved fire, but will surely return fire consistently over the next six weeks.

Certainly the Government has some good material at its disposal, for instance Kevin Rudd’s stumble on productivity earlier this year on ABC radio, and his ignorance concerning the marginal tax rates. These can be used to show that Kevin Rudd does not know much about the Australian economy, and hence represents a risk to jobs and growth. If the Coalition are to have any chance at all, their election ads will have to be hard-hitting and brutally effective. The message has to always be that Labor is a risk, and hence cannot be trusted.

For the full story: http://leonbertrand.blogspot.com/2007/10/howard-calls-election.html

AJFA,

And here I came to have a look thinking I'd find a serious question being asked and all I find is party propaganda. I know several people who voted Howard last time and won't this time, you could hardly call them 'lefties'. In fact some of them are voting Family First in the Senate. They are hardly typical Labor types. I don't care who you vote for but if you are going to start a debate, how about having the honesty to say out front that you are just here to spread dogma and not interested on what people really think. Good luck with your propaganda campaign.

my only reservation about labor is that they are politicians. letting politicians run a country is irresponsible. but ozzies are children, quite incapable of managing themselves.

since we are left in the hands of politicians: vote labor, folks. at least kevvie has grasped that nuclear power benefits no one but miners. he may even have grasped that pursuing renewable power is a longterm net gain for australia, with new technology offering both clean domestic power and export opportunities.

* "Right leadership?" Nothing but meaningless sloganism. This is completely subjective.

* No one is concerned about Howard's age. It is his persistent adherance to antiquated values. I know 90 year olds who are more progressive than Howard is!

* Re your charge of being "lefty". There is no threat of a Communist revolution here. There are simply people who are concerned that we currently have a leader who is in lockstep with an American President controlled by neocon fanatics.

* Even elderly people I know who are die-hard liberal supporters do not like Howard, because he has dragged our country into a war based on a pack of outright lies.

* This idea of "lefties" ringing their hands with glee sounds like something out of a Nazi propaganda campaign. Anyone who wants to see the end of Howard is plainly aware of his ability to win elections based on manipulation of the lowest order.

* The very concept you are presenting of "Howard haters" is just a jaded and simplistic way to offset the real concerns that people have. You talk about dollars in the pocket, but think about the hundreds of thousands NOW DEAD and the many more maimed, ill and dispossessed because of the pointless war in Iraq. This is the issue, which goes far beyond the petty concerns of local politics. We have a war monger in power, and he has to go, if we are to salvage any of the values we as a country used to claim to have.

* People are thankfully now waking up to the fact that the economy being so called "strong" basically means that large corporations are gaining a greater and greater monopoly. Our living standards will fall dramatically when the environment fails (due to lack of action), and when Bush's war agenda starts to hit home by way of mounting debts, terrorist reprisals, increasing surveillance and loss of human rights, and growing insecurity and chaos.

Finally, you're basically advocating this rubbish as a valid election campaign, when you seem to know perfectly well what rubbish it is?

At the end of the day, for most people it will come down to a choice of the lesser of two evils, rather than which party is better for the country. Despite their appalling record, that's exactly the premise on which Labor got back into power in NSW this year. "I dont like them, they've done a bad job, but the other guy might be worse". Despite the opinion polls, that's what Rudd has to look out for if he wants to win.

Dear Peppy and VC.

I did not intend to post "propaganda". If you read the full article, you will see that it's not propaganda. Rather, it is analysis and opinion. And, of course, both of you are perfectly entitled to disagree.

VC, I think you place far too much emphasis on the Iraq war. Admittedly, it has been a disaster, however Australia only contributed a couple of thousand troops, and none of our soldiers have died, save for one guy who accidently shot himself after drinking late at night.

And finally, your view that the strength of the economy only reflects the growing power of corporations is not only simplistic, but also overlooks the fact that real wages have grown substantially over the last 11 years.

Obviously you are quite strongly opposed to the Howard government and favour left-wing policies. You don't have to be a raw socialist to be a lefty.