I can remember not so long ago that the word 'wedge' used in connection with politics was a dirty word. The ABC and other anointed members of the commentariat used it to create the impression that a war was looming in society. 'Wedge politics' and 'dog whistle politics' became the mantras du jour. Of course they were mentioned with that special 'Juanita of the ABC' look that suggested to the viewer that there was something sinister about them. Now one of those mantras is seen as being positive.

Ain't politics strange.

So, Rudd is big on philosophy. It will be interesting to see how many votes that translates into from Joe and Janet Blow as they struggle away with their mortgages, kids’ education etc. etc. How many of them have heard of Hayek or the Centre for Independent Studies? A recent poll showed that most people hadn’t heard of Rudd himself, until recently. It’s good that Mr. Whelan writes: “If Rudd can successfully articulate this contradiction to the whole electorate …”

It’s a big if. Everything about Mr. Rudd, clever and sincere though he may be, is a big “if” at the moment. Remember, a bloke called Latham who was to end all Labor’s troubles? The regular changing of leaders hardly gives the electorate any confidence in a party’s competence, and a leader cannot carry the whole load. Policies, not leaders, are of importance. Already the media is berating Mr. Rudd for his lack of policies a mere year out of from an election. If he really felt confident enough to challenge Beazley, he should have known why before he did it.

Whelan’s mention of an alternative “like Whitlam” has probably put the mockers on poor old Ruddy, anyway.

However, if the incumbent government is thought bad enough, voters will kick them out. Governments lose. Oppositions don’t win. Beazley, Latham, Rudd - whoever. The Howard government has to displease voters enough to kick them out. People vote against governments, not for oppositions

I agree that IR, Federalism and the GST will be defining points of Rudds run on the Commonwealth. Though I hold a different analytical position than everybody else, probably.

Firstly, IR. By the time of the next election, this wont be such a big issue. Only that it is the ideological playground of the Left and the Union movement, so it will still be bubble and froth for a while yet. The GST, if uncontrolled and untied, could possibly be a windfall for the Left. And finally, Federalism, which in my opinion is in danger of being divested. It is not a fait-accompli as far as I am concerned, and should not be treated as such by any sector of the Australian polity. Whether that be the opposition, the media, judicious mantra or minority lobby groups, or any other influence both on and offshore. If I am correct in my assumptions, the Labor coup has resulted in an amalgamation of two very different political ethos’s. In the dream team, we can see US socio-political culture, and Singaporean socio-economic structures.

I do not agree with some of the political assumptions found in Whelan. To this end, the Rudd wagon train, with its Left leaning ‘AmeriPorean’ amalgamation, is about to break out on a chinese whispering tour which should be regarded with a large amount of wariness by Mr & Mrs Australia.

Leigh,
Has been closest to the money so far in my humble opinion, he is correct Governments do lose elections, Oppositions don't win them. Rudd just makes it more probable for this to happen as he seems to be a genuine alternative to the little rodent.

It is in low and middle Australia where the next election will be won or lost, and with Workchoices lowering average weekly earnings for 2 successive quarters, combined with rising interest rates that we had to have, these families are more likely to turn on the rodent. Former PM Ben Chiffley's "hip pocket nerve" will come into play.

If this demographic turns, Rudd is in, by default.

Who is the shadow for the Mitigation of Peak Oil ?

I know they have one for the enviroment but this is a different job altogether. I have not heard if anyone has been given that job, which is much more imminent than global warming.

A week in politics can be a long time, but I too doubt Kevin Rudd can deliver the goods in a twelve month time frame. Good for him if he can, but he needs to differentiate very clearly between the policies of Labor compared to those of the Coalition. Not an easy task considering the current political landscape. Many people in various posts make the declaration that IR laws will have been forgotten about by the next election and whilst that may be true, what about 2010? IR reform won't be felt excessively until Australian prosperity begins to dwindle after the commodities boom runs out of puff. John Howard was never thinking about providing immediate power to employers to sack people at will in the short term. If he truly thought that, it would have been political suicide to introduce them when he did. Oh no! He's well ahead of the situation of flagging commodity sales, inflation and the following recession. I've predicted before that he'll stay in power at the next election, but resign with "dignity" just before the crash, tossing the whole rotten mess into someone else's lap. That's the type of little snake he is. The people will revolt when they realise that their previous smug position on IR reform has landed them in the deep end and they'll hunt the Coalition out of power in 2010, but for them, it will be a case of "too late she cried!"

Wildcat,
I make this prediction, if the little rodent appears as if he's going to lose the next election, he will retire hurt, you know "for medical/personal reasons etc" and Costello will be thrown the poisoned challice. When Costello loses Turnbull will become Liberal Party leader, and it will really be on in 2010.

I'm sure that the public will be massively underwhelmed by Rudd's pointing out that Howard may have some philosophical inconsistencies. What an election winner...NOT.

Rudd is assiduously avoiding creating a single new policy while jumping on the "We all hate Johnny don't we?,so make me Prime Minister" bandwagon which failed miserably for the wretched Mr Latham. His honeymoon will be very short lived once Gillard's leadership intentions become clear.

I've been a Liberal Party voter all of my life. Since Workchoices and Howard's "shrinking choices" policies across a range of different areas, I have thought about voting for the ALP in the next election. Certainly friends of mine who were staunch Liberal party voters and even members, have taken that attitude over the past 2-3 years. With Rudd & Gillard combination now in place, that's exactly what I intend to do.

While I am not personally affected by the changes Howard has put into place, I know of several people who have been and are affected by a range of policy changes. My sense of Aussie mateship and a fair go(there are couple of Aussie values Mr Robb) wont allow me to take the attitude of I am right so bugger my fellow Aussie mates.

Rudd's understanding of philosophy is not designed to draw in all of the voters. Such an interpretation of Rudd is conveniently and very simplistic and silly. It misses the real point!

In part, it may also been interpreted as a reflection of how multi-talented he is, and of his genuine committment to be engaged on a number levels about a range of issues. It underscores his intellectual enthusiasm and his enthusiasm for life, learning and understanding people and society generally.

Rudd clearly has many interests and excels in many areas. He is a leader by way of example who walks the talk...not a puppet waiting to be fed lines.

Whether the Rudd/Gillard team end up representing a watershed in Australian politics only time will tell. But, I frankly have had enough of seeing and hearing of an increasing number of people suffering in one way or another thanks to the intersection and cummulative bite of Howard's policies.

Rudd has begun his to-be-short-lived life as labor leader by imitating the tactics of the man he hopes to dislodge. No sooner leader and he is looking around for a easy target to blame for all of society's woes. A quick listen to talkback radio and he's on the right track. A good old session of teacher bashing and the political landscape is set. Howard and Rudd will be falling over each other in the months ahead as they listen to concerns of electorate via Laws and Jones.

passenger,

It is not at all clear that Kevin Rudd has indulged in the highly competitive sport of teacher-bashing. He does not even mention teachers. He is reported as saying, "I mean educational opportunity for kids from working families to have a high quality of education with high standards applied to it, and that means a strong emphasis on the quality control of education outcomes” and "I am not interested in simply investing and providing greater investment into education in the absence of guarantees of quality outcomes for working families." It is The Australian which has supplied the headline: “Rudd puts teachers on notice”.

It is essential that Mr Rudd stay true to Labor principles on IR. If he does not, we might as well have two Liberal Parties. That a government which has passed such unjust IR laws has any chance of winning the next election shows how much Australia has changed in the last ten years. These laws simply increase the power of the employer over that of the employee in ways that are foreign to what it once meant to be an Australian.

If Kevin Rudd can crystallise in the public's minds how anti-family this legislation is, he can win in 2007. That he might be able to do so is shown by the number of articles published in The Australian pressuring him into backing down

I've yet to make up my mind on whether KR is a philosopher or an ideologue. One thing is for sure, he would rather believe in something than fall for anything. Howard's problem is that he believes he is his own great philosopher. Rudd is willing to refer to other men and ideas.

Kevin Rudd's biggest drawback is that he is a politician.

By that I mean that he has never had anything to do with the real world where we non-politicians are forced to live.

Dux at school, then Uni, then DFAT, State politics then Federal politics.

A seemingly smart erudite and articulate man with a good brain, but with absolutely no experience of having to work at something constructive or useful.

Thats a bit tough pericles,

He created his 'real world' for himself. He should not be shunted if he was good enough to be dux, he went to uni then entered his chosen industry/profession.

Id say hes done pretty well myself, he has had the smarts to work hard and he has acheieved at everything hes done. I suggest he may achieve if he became PM too.

The reality is that the ALP and unions have become irrelevant to Australians circa 2006. When I started voting and became a union member 30 years ago both these institutions had quite some political clout. Out of touch union officials droned on and on about insignificant agendas while the workers realised that the future was all about lifestyles. The ALP just droned on and on and ended up with liberalesque policies. Sorry Mr. Rudd your party and major backers have no alternatives to offer Australians.

Well said Leigh and Pericles!

Labor has many issues internally. Rudd in particular has been a big player in the constant stream of occupants of the Opposition Leader's job. He has made too many enemies through his activities. Who cares what Rudd's background is? It's his policies and actions that matter.

To me the biggest problem he has, other than the rodent of course, will be Peter Garrett. We all know of Pete's passion for the environmental issues and frankly I agree with what he has stood for. The problem will be that Pete is in the wrong job. He won't be able to live with the restrictions that a Caucus will ask of him and that will blow their whole attempt. I believe that Pete has a conscience although he has put it away to try and make a difference.

Being told what to vote for will not sit easy and he will rightly break the restraints in time. I don't think he will be able to do that when the time comes despite his current agreeable comments in that regard. That's where Howard has already focused, nuclear as it is Labor's Achilles hell (intended), one of many really.

As to Rudd wedging Howard. Good grief. Don't you follow Howard's history. It's a simple routine now.

Welcome the new Opposition leader, announce the honeymoon is expected. Wait for the newbie to fire his big guns and simply defuse them to remove those from the table. Note Iraq. It was only a day or two after Rudd's final attempt on that before JWH actually conceded Iraq's situation "may not be ideal". Nothing heard since right?

As to IR. No it won't be big for the media but it is biting people now. Their hours are just being cut back so they have to try and survive on a lower wage. Result? Poverty or move on allowing cheap labour behind them. I too know others being hit this way right now, just before Xmas. They won't be able to forget that.