Paul Keating let loose on Peter Costello yesterday http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24137775-2,00.html. I think this is a variant of the "tar baby" tactic. Labor would be very happy to see Costello as Liberal leader. The only reason I can see that they might unload on him now is to convince the Liberals that they are scared of the possibility.

I think Costello is the best person to lead the Liberal Party, and should have taken the job on after the last election. But that was last year.

If Costello takes the job now it won't make any difference to the outcome of the next election, which will be won by the Labor party. As the Liberal Party rarely rewards leaders for losing, that will see Costello off for good. So Labor gets two wins - the one they would have had, and added to that Costello is taken out for good.

And if he doesn't become leader they still win, because Nelson will probably do worse than Costello would have.

Nothing is easy for first term oppositions.

I'm a long term, VERY long term Liberal party supporter, although the Liberal Party of today is certainly NOT the Liberal Party envisaged under it's founder Bob Menzies. Bob was a magnificent Australian.

What Graham says is basically correct. If Mr Costello becomes leader now, he will surely be dumped after the party loses the next election (almost a foregone conclusion).

If they "really" want him as leader, they'll possibly bide their time. Unfortunately for us, if he becomes leader following the next election, the Party will be doomed to yet another defeat; I wish more Liberals could see that. Peter is a very capable bloke, but the public will NEVER accept him, and that "public acceptance" is vital for election victory.

I feel that in 3 years time the current economic crisis the world over will turn into the inevitable "boom" times......this is how economic cycles work. In about 8 years time, when that second election is due, we'll be running down the back of economic prosperity, and the Liberal Party will unfortunately find it VERY difficult to gain office. Under such circumstances they'll need a leader with "charisma" (right or wrong) in order to made an electoral dent. Mr Costello certainly does NOT have charisma, unfortunately.

The most important thing to consider is that Costello is absolutely entrenched in the continuous growth paradigm, which is just so utterly critically stupid in this day and age.

Alright, the Libs as a whole are utterly entrenched in it. But I get the feeling that they could dig their way out of it and see fit to support a limits to growth paradigm if they really tried. Even Turnbull could do this, I reckon.

But with Costello up front, they wouldn’t have a chance in hell of developing a policy platform that is significantly different to that of Labor, what the country desperately needs, and which will appeal to the majority of voters.

Policies are FAR more important than the leader. But the leader has to be the right person….and it certainly ain’t Costello.

Policies ARE far more important. But "often", close elections are won or lost on "perceptions" and "leadership".

It is also a matter of economic competence and good judgement.Both Kevin and Wayne have recently revealed how out of touch they are.Wyane just couple of months ago ran about like a mad hare disclaiming,"The inflation genie is out of the bottle!",thus giving the RBA the green light to further punish the economy.Kevin further added ot the panic disclaiming more pain was inevitable due to his intended taxes on carbon pollution.

Only now have they realised how poorly the economy is doing.They did not have their ears to the ground.Already they are out of touch and the real dilemmas have yet to evolve!

I don't agree with Graham entirely.It is not fate accompli that Labor will win the next election.If the economy turns really sour,they will again become synonymous with poor economic skills and recessions.If the Liberals win back a lot of seats which they should,why would they ditch Costello?

I can appreciate that P Costello wants a break to write and reflect,but we as a country,cannot afford a bunch of second rate amateurs that have far less talent than the Keating era,to manufacture a Iemma debacle for the entire country

*The most important thing to consider is that Costello is absolutely entrenched in the continuous growth paradigm, which is just so utterly critically stupid in this day and age.*

Ludwig, I think you have to remember that politicians in the end,
reflect what people want. Look around you, everybody wants more.
People buy lottery tickets, people strive for more stuff, bigger
houses, etc. etc.

I happen to agree with you, I think we have too much "stuff", I
think we should look at other values. But that is not what most
of the population thinks. So while most of the population disagrees
with you, no politician pushing your platform, has a chance of
winning anything. That is the reality.