Hewson was right, Costello is nothing without the Treasury mandarins behind him to tell him what to do.

Maybe Costello could benefit from some advice from the US State Department like his previous boss, the late (sic) John Howard. Come to think of it, if John Howard was still around he would be in the policy doldrums too without George Dubya and the State Department to brief him. Gee, we came close to being the nuclear dump of the world didn't we?

The problems of the Liberal Party are much more fundamental than who is leader. For decades the Liberals have been able to get away with pretending that 'style of government' could do in lieu of actual policies. Now it is very clear to all that in terms of policies the cupboard is completely bare and worse, in place of a coherent, defensible philosophy there is only smoke and mirrors - a legacy of being run by vested interests from outside the Party and not feeling the need to engage with grassroots supporters, let alone take any notice of them.

Voters don't know what the Liberal Party stands for, apart from every man (and woman of course) for himself and screw the unions, students and pensioners. It is obvious that as long as the old guard remain as shadow ministers the 'same old, same old' policy vacuum will continue. If the Liberal Party cannot re-engineer itself after months in opposition it is probably past its use-by date.

Costello has become a spoiler in the best peacock/howard tradition.
Lets hope the tories are as much fun to watch as they were back then.

Polls don't mean much at this point , the fair go idea .
If Costello was leader and LeGrande Gesture called an election , Costello would streak it in ......People would consider carefully and decide living dangerously with Rudd is not so good as they'd hoped .

ShazBaz001,

We lived dangerously during the term of the last government, the Howard-Costello legacy is a huge foreign debt, perhaps we shouldn't worry,after all it's private debt, nothing can possibly go wrong with private debt.

Mac,
I kept getting these sneaking suspicions that private debt (foreign and domestic) can get foisted on the mugs who can't afford tax accountants, by those who can afford the best.

You've calmed me immensely. Thank you.

'Interesting times' ahead?'

You betcha! I don't think the list of casualties
is quite finished yet in the Liberal Party.
Turnbull is determined to lead the party to a
successful finish. He's gambled everything he has
on opposing the government's bail-out package.
According to Joe Hockey - he compared Peter Costello's
future, "with Prince Charles' waiting to become king
of England."

Liberal Party 'elder' has told Costello to move on.
The polls have shown Costello to be 'unelectable.'

Senator Minchin says Costello has the right to serve as
a bachbencher and "people ought to leave him alone."

Most Liberals now expect Costello will re-nominate for
another term in his HIggins seat.

Backbencher Wilson Tuckey says Costello, "...has a right to
chart his own course."

And the band plays on.

My favourite summary was the one done by Dennis Pryor in his
booklet, "Political Pryorities," where he summed up a backbencher
as: "A member of Parliament with a brilliant future behind him,
a trudger through the lobbies, a party man, a spender of
electoral allowances, a consumer of free air tickets, a
collector of living-away-from-home expenses, a commonwealth car
passenger, a jet-set junketeer, a cultivator of his electorate,
a survivor of pre-selection.

There are three types -
The disgruntled failed frontbencher, the seatwarmer who
will never make it and the still hopeful, hyperactive
aspirant to a portfolio."

The disgruntled failed frontbencher - sounds like
Costello to me.

Interesting times' ahead? Yes, definitely.