…Would it not be fair in the argument for Rudd to be resurrected as leader for the salvation of Labor to add a call for the return of John Howard to replace Tony Abbott as a hedge against negative PR of Abbott? My own answer to that question is that the reality of Abbotts negatives are currently unimportant since Gillard has so successfully shot-off the feet of Labor and so effectively that the Liberal party could be led to electoral victory by a donkey walking backwards. So the question for the future is, at what “point” will Abbott be jettisoned as the liability he really is?

"Our respondents are looking for leaders who have ability"

Fair enough, most seem to be concerned and involved in political debate .. for those not as well engaged, it's a matter of who will do less harm.

To the average not so well connected voter:

The ALP are stuck in the mode of arrogance and internalism while knowing best about everything, to the point of "let them eat cake" displays of hatred towards some of the community who dare disagree. No collective Australian feeling there, they outright and blatantly hate anyone who is ideologically different .. that's the perception anyway. Their attack mode, so well honed in opposition, is still the only thing they know, so they continually attack an impotent opposition, instead of getting on with the nation building stuff .. they just cannot let go of petty and and major hatred.

It is so obvious, so monotonous, so "negative" .. people have just turned off.

The coalition is trying to work out which of all the possible strategies is best, they all work, they will destroy the ALP/Green/indie junta, but risk having too many messages. I don't believe anyone in the community, outside the political interested, does not despise Turnbull. He is seen as a two faced self centered person, regardless of his spiel, he is not trusted by the general public.

The coalition need not win the next election, the Green Junta will lose it, and lose it by a huge margin, the public WILL have revenge, on this poisonous lot.

Trying to re-educate us and socially engineer Australia with scorn, bile and taxes, is not working.

Polling schmolling.

People are sick of polling. Changing leaders continually in a revolving door process is not going to make a difference to policies at this stage.

People are sick of the superficiality of strategy and tactics over good policy and implementation, and continual erosion of democratic principles. Changing leadership again will not change the way the economy is managed or the adherence to perpetual growth economics and lack of representation.

There is an interesting op-ed in the Australian by Peter van Onselen in which he speaks of the poisoning of the ALP by Rudd and Gillard. We will be a long time getting over the damage those two have inflicted on their party and our national politics.
On the other side of the room, the Coalition will sooner or later have to get over Abbott. He has served his purpose by pointing out just how bad are Rudd and Gillard, but he didn't win his election and has to go.
I am surprised that Turnbull gets such a negative portrayal from rpg above. To me he has more stature than any other realistic choice in the current round of leadership musical chairs. The other three, Rudd, Gillard and Abbott, don't come close.

I have never been able to fathom why people care so much about political leaders. Politicians are a grey, bland and thoroughly boring mob, and the chances of any who do have a slight streak of non-conformity of making it to leader must surely have been obliterated by the Latham disaster (which is a shame for poor old Barnaby Joyce - he's far too interesting to ever be put in charge of the levers). As a result, the leaders and the aspiring lackeys are all pretty much indistinguishable, and thoroughly uninspiring.

But in the end, it doesn't matter that the leaders are all the same: my vote is determined by policies, not who's running the party at the time. Given what a boring lot they are anyway, either political party could dress up an crash-test dummy in a suit, stick a tape recorder in his pocket for interviews and declare him their leader, and I'd still vote that party if they had better policies. And how cool would it be to be the only country in the world with an inanimate object as PM?

'Changing leaders continually in a revolving door process is not going to make a difference to policies at this stage. '

True Pelican only changing Governments would put an end to the total farce we have with the 2 current incompetent PM's (Brown and Gillard). Whitlam is looking more competent every day compared to this lot and that is aying something.