Election wrap-up
Australia - 12/10/2004
Another election, another win by little Johnny. Why did he win? Could it be that Australians are happy with the job he’s doing and want him to continue?
I think there is a very good reason why Latham DIDN’T win. The personal attacks began very early in the campaign – and not in the TV advertisements. Latham questioned Howard’s credibility on the children overboard saga – something that happened over three years ago. Howard was attacked for his decisions on Iraq. He was attacked over his plans to retire. Meanwhile, Howard got on with telling Australians what his party would do if it was elected. It wasn’t until later that Latham actually started to push out the policies (such as Medicare Gold) – but that was too late.
I don’t know why political advertisers use personal attacks in their campaigns. These kinds of ads actually make me want to vote AGAINST the party doing the dirty advertising. Both major parties were guilty of such gutter-tactics. Even political newcomer "Family First" entered the ring with their "that’s not green Bob, that’s extreme" campaign. (So much for their "Christian" values.)
The Democrats suffered crushing defeats in this election. Could it be that people don’t want to vote for a party whose leader gets drunk and harasses people in the middle of parliament? The Democrats should never have gotten rid of Natasha as leader. She was the perfect "face" for a political party that wanted to ensure that the decisions made in the lower house got the scrutiny they deserved. She knew her stuff – and she knew how to communicate with the media.
The media plays a HUGE roll in how people will vote. The more the politicians are actually seen making comments, etc, the more it appears that they are doing something. I am sure the Democrats were still doing a great job in the Senate, but without that media "face", it appeared as though they weren’t doing anything.
An example of this is an independent for Wide Bay, Lars Hedberg, who received quite a few votes. His incessant advertising campaign annoyed me, but people would have voted for him because they knew who he was (by the TV ads) and it seemed as though he was going to "make a stand" or something like that. (His advertisements did not include any policies or indications on what he did or did not support.)
So with media being so important, why didn’t John Howard go on Rove Live? Was he afraid of the jocular nature of the show? Does this mean that he’s out of touch with everyday Australians? Who knows! One thing is for certain – it made and extremely humorous topic each week on Rove Live. Maybe Rove should be Prime Minister!!!
| Others' Views: Based on 10 votes |
|
| Totally agree: | 
(40%) |
| Mostly agree: | 
(30%) |
| Mostly disagree: |
(20%) |
| Totally disagree: |
(10%) |