Labor is actually blessed with a lot of good politicians at the moment, but the PM is not one of them. Mr Rudd is everything that's wrong about politics today - a shallow media tart who thinks that a lot of activity and symbolic gesturing will, somehow, be seen by the electors as progress. He is the "hollow man". Yet Labor has real talent in the likes of Gillard, Tanner, Emerson and many others. Even Wayne Swan is scrubbing up okay.

The Libs are a bit short of talent. Abbott is great, but his front bench includes the two Bishops, Abetz, Andrews and others who rest on a reputation that wasn't much chop in the first place.

With Labor, the team is strong but the leader is a dud. With the Libs, it's pretty much the other way around

Oh Gawd,the election is not due till November and already we have an ALP lamb bleating words of praise KRudd&Co - pitiful.

And Rudd polished - yeah,like a fresh turd.

Let's look at the facts:

1) Malcolm Turnbull's demise painfully
demonstrated how deeply divided the
Liberal Party is. Tony Abbott is their
3rd attempt at solving the problem.

2) Abbott's policies to date have been
shallow and opportunistic. Indulging in
words which can have no conceivable
effect but which attempt to give the
impression that he's a fine person with
firm but compassionate moral values.
His favourite denunciation is of course
the ETS, asylum seekers, and all the old
fears that characterised the Howard years.
Its the perfect form of politics, it costs
little and fools some of the people some
of the time.

3) Trying to convince the voters that the
ETS is a great big tax - is simply an
electoral trick. And, nonsense.
Even Howard supported an ETS.
Yet Abbott would prefer not to tax the polluters -
which is what the current government is proposing.
He would prefer to have the tax payer pay.
Because taxing the polluters is bad for business.

4)Blaming the stimulus package for our "Big Debt,"
overlooks the fact that it's thanks to the
stimulus package that has helped weather a serious
economic downturn due to the global economic crisis.

5)It is a moderate and cautious Labor Government that
is investing in public housing, hospitals, education,
health, roads, and so on. Something that the previous
government neglected during its years in office.

6) It's foolish
that the Opposition is trying to bamboozle the voters
with a belief that a "new" Opposition has begun. While
appointing the same tired party hacks to its front bench,
with the same Howard-style policies that Australians
rejected at the last election.

You can't keep doing what you've been doing and expect
different results.

It's time the Opposition got wise - and gave us policies
that can provide - a
real alternative to the current Government, otherwise
as the author of this article correctly sums up -
the results will be those of the last election.

Foxy,
Please, this is far too serious a situation for an eight paragraph joke.

Dear Individual,

Stupidity is not a crime -
so you're free to go!

manorina, Gold, I was waiting for someone to link the "polished" leader of our country to what he really is.

To the other bleating ALP lambs, PM Rudd did not win the last election, PM Howard lost it. It wasn't some David and Goliath contest, PM Howard just ran too long a race.

What was the margin of the Great Landslide you all seem to think shifted Australian politics to the extreme left? Less than 2%, and its easy to shift back mate.

Rudd had no policies just some goals, e.g. getting rid of Workchoices, hardly a policy - and now we're seeing the results, slowly slowly of the insidious union movement creeping back to its old tricks and bullying. Apologizing to the aboriginals, hardly a policy was it? What have been the benefits so far? Vapor is all it is.

Australians fundamentally dislike a bullshyte artist and con man, we'll tolerate it for a while, till the handouts end, then when we get told, hey you all need to be taxed this and that way - sorry, we'll move on.

Abbot may not be perfect, but obviously he worries the ALP hence the continuous attacks and frothing at the mouth of all the lovies - he dismisses AGW, good on him, maybe you all need a shake up and now let's have open debate, no more sniping and peer reviews eh?

Penny Wong has moved to enigmatic confabulator, but can't quite get the rabbit out of the hat, it's all different when you actually have an opposition doesn't it Penny?

So yes we should expect the little political clubs to all want the ALP back in, so the handouts and cosy hugs continue, have there been any more best and brightest glad fests since the first one?

ALP, just more vapor, no substance.