"are you predicting an end to Labor ?"

Seriously, I hope not; this nation needs a genuine labour orientated political party; the big guys cannot be trusted.

But what we have now is an abomination; the ALP/Green hybrid is a political mutant where ideological extremism has married ultra self-interest.

I have never seen such a bunch of venal, self-interested and corrupt pack of politicians as the current ALP; with the possible exception of McClelland who is operating to a large extent on that fine ALP tradition of getting square and any social altruism being a trickle down benefit from his more base motivation.

To add insult to injury they are also incompetent to an extent not previously found outside the HSU. Nothing this government has done reflects any merit, vision or concern with and pride in Australia.

The final irony is that this government, like NSW INC., has more in common with and demonstrates all the failings of corporatism at its most vicious.

The pièce de résistance of this government, and a fitting epitah, will be the possibility of its leader facing criminal charges.

But as I say, labour has to regroup and get back to its roots, ditch the collective stupidity of the intelligentsia which has hijacked it, and become once again a party looking after the interests of the working class rather than a party preying on them

Ahhhh at last Everald, you indicate you support the Labor diatribe.

My Granddad used to tell me about betting. He was a gambler. He always said if you don't think a horse will win why would you back it for a place?

'Now, although the Coalition is still clearly in front, it is a genuinely contestable election that may yet provide the biggest political upset in our nation's history. Such a boil-over is worth a punt of a reasonable number of dollars down at the bookmakers, but don't put your house on it.'

If you are not prepared to put your house on the coalition, then my Grandddad's logic says you are backing Labor.

Jez Everald you think you are clever but the logic of my granddad shows you are pretty dumb.

I've already put more than one of my houses on Tony Abbott.

Seems you've ommitted Eddie, Macca, Moses, Craig, Michael, Bruce, Ralph, Joe, Paul,and their faceless mates, Kevvy, Wayne and Julia as well as 'There will be no carbon tax', and 'We will return to surplus in 2012-13', from your analysis.

The following I agree with;

'The crucial point to bear in mind about this election is that it will be held in an atmosphere where the voters are utterly switched off by politics - indeed disgusted by it wholeheartedly.'

Yes Everald and they are disengaged and are increasingly telling the 'semi-official' polsters, on whom you are obviously basing your opinions, to f-off.

Those particular 'labor hating ingrates' are not being included in the current poling and they all despire Gillard and her racist Asian woman prefering mysognist mate. They are not telling anyone for who they are voting.

You need to assess their numbers before you spill your guts.

Cohenite. Hear hear. A loathsome crowd they have become. (From a previously 'rusted on' labour supporter.). We do need a viable alternative to the coalition, for the health of our democracy.

Cohenite, I agree (with your political assessment, at least).
While I would much prefer to see co-operative share ownership of large businesses/corporations than this ridiculous and destructive us/them, aristocrats/serfs paradigm which persists today, until such time as this archaic perception finally dies, unions and collective bargaining is a very necessary evil, and the only way to combat the ever widening gap between those with power and those without.
And no one in the history of this country has ever done more to emasculate the union movement than the two Labor heroes, Hawke and Keating.
Not content with that, they betrayed the basic tenet of the Labor party, replacing Social Democracy with Neo Liberalism in the guise of “Economic Rationalism”.
King O'Malley and the founding fathers of the Labor movement must have squirmed in their graves to see their party turned into a branch of the conservative party.
As far as the Greens...
Although I have never voted for the Greens, I well remember the 60's and 70's when Australia could justifiably claim to be a middle class, if not classless society.
I remember Jack Mundey and the union green bans. Many people thought they were outrageous at the time, but in hindsight?
The sad but simple fact is, it takes extremists to drag the conservative centre, kicking and screaming, into the future.

A mate just sent me an email, which struck me as relevant to this conversation:
Oxford University researchers have discovered the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element, Governmentium (symbol=Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons,  which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles  called pillocks.

Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert.

However, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact.

A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second, to take from 4 days to 4 years to complete.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2 to 6 years. It  does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganisation in which a  portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time,  since each reorganisation will cause

more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as a critical morass. When catalysed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium (symbol=Ad), an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium, since it has half as many pillocks but twice as many morons.

There is a lot of water to go under the bridge in this election. The race will tighten and leaders will make blunders. Every day people will walk away from their traditional political beliefs and hope that they can find a way out of their dissolutionment. There is no longer a viable number of voters who are rusted on to either Party.