Interesting Don,

But what do you make of the hypothesis that Ms Gillard announced the election now to lock the Opposition in with Mr Abbott against whom she will probably win - based on personal approvals - and to stymie the switch to Mr Turnbull against whom she would most likely lose?

Thanks, AA

I view the long election campaign with unabashed horror. When I see either Tony or Julia my first reaction is to feel like vomiting.

I'm sick of both of them. They are both self-serving and hopelessly incompetent. They both project the worst side of political endeavour. They lie and procrastinate endlessly and are not above engaging in dirty deals and shady practices.

I suspect that the rate of mental illness across Australia is going to rise steeply over the next few months as pathetic ads fill our television screens and scenes of Julia and Tony packing shelves with fruit or cleaning fish play endlessly.

If we could load ALL the current batch of politicians on both sides on a leaky boat and launch them into an eastward-flowing current, most Australians would applaud.

God help those who live where they'd end up but they'd no longer be our worry and our new crop of politicians might save our country!

Might.

Hi Don,

I’m not sure anyone will know JG’s motivation. All we can say is that whatever was behind it, its purpose was self interest. It smells of panic, desperation and knee jerk. She is now going to war with the ALP, caucus and government MP’s. This alone telegraphs her desperation.

Her announcements are littered with “invitations” to TA to come out with his policies. He won’t of course and will leave JG to operate in a vacuum of her own making, hunting down an opponent that is not there. Chasing phantoms is not a good look.

Added to her self made dilemma is the prospect of changed preference flows. Current polls are based upon preference flows as at 2010. She personally destroyed the brand image of the Impendent MP’s, they won’t recover from that. She personally destroyed the brand image of the Greens for the same reasons. It now appears likely that preference options will reduce by both opportunities and by volume not to mention marginals, so it’s bye by to the Greens (especially in Tassie) and the Indies.

Unless TA screws up big time JG is gone. JG also has the judicial clock running. She must run long enough to smash TA’s policies but keep the option open to go earlier if more allegations/arrests eventuate. A real big rock and a very hard place. That IMHO, is what her strategy delivers, just one option, it's high risk and she's no good at assessing risk. Boom!

JG has just demonstrated the difference between education and intelligence, she’s so sharp she is going to take out all the political parasites with her.

Thanks Julia, take all the time you need and please keep up the good work.

Abbott will stuff him self as usual. His woman in power hating will rise to the surface as normal. Booking an election has sidelined Turnbull.
Abbott is no match for Julia, he has to have written scripts.
The bumblings will take over and that is when the foot gets dislodged.
Surely Turnbull would have been the obvious choice.

579

You jest of course. You reckon that Julia's Handbag Hit Squad with Penny Wong could still play the misogyny card?

What about this?

Tim Mathieson, Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s consort addressing the subject of prostate cancer with the visiting West Indian cricket team at the Lodge,

"We can get a blood test for it, but the digital examination is the only true way to get a correct reading on your prostate, so make sure you go and do that, and perhaps look for a small Asian female doctor is probably the best way."

Julia didn't correct 'that man' at the time, which would have been easy enough for someone so uniquely sensitive to misogyny to do. Julia has previously been able to find misogyny in a casual glance at a wristwatch.

Doubtless she has received supportive counselling from the also serially very sensitive Nicola Roxon, Penny Wong, Tanya Plibersek and Jenny Macklin.

Maybe it isn't what was said, the offence lies in just who has said it. That takes mind reading. Interesting.

Why has Malcolm Turnbull been sidelined? Can't he be elected Liberal leader in say, the next three months?