Chris Uhlmann tries to break Tony Jones record for most repeats of a simple question to Kevin Rudd without getting one straight answer:
First try:
CHRIS UHLMANN: Is (Labor) still a party of the left?
KEVIN RUDD: You know, Chris, the key thing here is just to make sure you get two fundamental principles right. The economy is basic to everything. The key thing is whether through your outlay through budget, you provide opportunity for everybody and not just for some.
Second try:
CHRIS UHLMANN: Is the Labor Party still a party of the left?
KEVIN RUDD: Yeah, but Chris, as an education revolution, theres an education revolution, we are a party of opportunity for all, not for some, so that every kid, irrespective of what background they come from, is given a first class opportunity in life.
Third try:
CHRIS UHLMANN: On the political spectrum, is the Labor party still a party of the left?
KEVIN RUDD: Well, were a part of progressive politics, and progressive politics mean that you just dont sit back and allow things to happen.
All right, Jones still keeps the record with four attempts to ask Rudd the same question without getting one intelligible answer.
But Uhlmann, who draws level with Kerry OBrien with three, beats Jones for quality by asking Rudd a perfectly simple question which any honest Labor man should never have had this trouble answering.
Or is Rudd simply incapable of answering any direct question?
Heres a man who doesnt know what he stands for, not admitting to what his party stands for, and leading a team that pretends to stand for something else again. I predict tears.
First try:
CHRIS UHLMANN: Is (Labor) still a party of the left?
KEVIN RUDD: You know, Chris, the key thing here is just to make sure you get two fundamental principles right. The economy is basic to everything. The key thing is whether through your outlay through budget, you provide opportunity for everybody and not just for some.
Second try:
CHRIS UHLMANN: Is the Labor Party still a party of the left?
KEVIN RUDD: Yeah, but Chris, as an education revolution, theres an education revolution, we are a party of opportunity for all, not for some, so that every kid, irrespective of what background they come from, is given a first class opportunity in life.
Third try:
CHRIS UHLMANN: On the political spectrum, is the Labor party still a party of the left?
KEVIN RUDD: Well, were a part of progressive politics, and progressive politics mean that you just dont sit back and allow things to happen.
All right, Jones still keeps the record with four attempts to ask Rudd the same question without getting one intelligible answer.
But Uhlmann, who draws level with Kerry OBrien with three, beats Jones for quality by asking Rudd a perfectly simple question which any honest Labor man should never have had this trouble answering.
Or is Rudd simply incapable of answering any direct question?
Heres a man who doesnt know what he stands for, not admitting to what his party stands for, and leading a team that pretends to stand for something else again. I predict tears.
Who is Kevin Rudd?
From the one Sydney Morning Herald story:
Asked yesterday for a tip, Mr Rudd told an interviewer he was not a betting man.
But in a later interview he seemed much better prepared, even declining the use of a form guide offered by a helpful reporter.
He singled out Maybe Better, nominating its good recent form and declaring: I am a mad punter from way back.
From Rudds CNBC interview:
Interviewer: Now, the most important question of all: who will win the Melbourne Cup?
Rudd: Well, its going to be an open race. Um, I think itll be tight. Like most, well, not all but many of the Melbourne Cups, can I just say though about the Australian election and Im not a betting man. This election will go down to the wire and whoever wins will win by a nose.
From the one Sydney Morning Herald story:
Asked yesterday for a tip, Mr Rudd told an interviewer he was not a betting man.
But in a later interview he seemed much better prepared, even declining the use of a form guide offered by a helpful reporter.
He singled out Maybe Better, nominating its good recent form and declaring: I am a mad punter from way back.
From Rudds CNBC interview:
Interviewer: Now, the most important question of all: who will win the Melbourne Cup?
Rudd: Well, its going to be an open race. Um, I think itll be tight. Like most, well, not all but many of the Melbourne Cups, can I just say though about the Australian election and Im not a betting man. This election will go down to the wire and whoever wins will win by a nose.
Rudd's new jobs for WA: flogging real estate in a banana republic
from Andrew Bolt
Kevin Rudd shows off the skills he thinks are enough to run the Australian economy by giving Western Australia a helpful tip:
Mr Rudd said WA had to diversify and look beyond the (mining) boom.
You have retirement incomes growing very rapidly in China and Korea and the rest of East Asia, but not a lot of sophistication in the management of those funds, he said. If you look at a new platform for growth - its there.
Its using the expertise in Perth to manage retirement funds coming out of, say China, for third-country investments in, say, real estate in Latin America.
Channelling Chinese funds into Latin American real estate? Thats sure, er, interesting, Mr Rudd. But mind if we stick to the mining for now?
And this bloke will soon be regulating your workplace and your super, and spending your taxes.
from Andrew Bolt
Kevin Rudd shows off the skills he thinks are enough to run the Australian economy by giving Western Australia a helpful tip:
Mr Rudd said WA had to diversify and look beyond the (mining) boom.
You have retirement incomes growing very rapidly in China and Korea and the rest of East Asia, but not a lot of sophistication in the management of those funds, he said. If you look at a new platform for growth - its there.
Its using the expertise in Perth to manage retirement funds coming out of, say China, for third-country investments in, say, real estate in Latin America.
Channelling Chinese funds into Latin American real estate? Thats sure, er, interesting, Mr Rudd. But mind if we stick to the mining for now?
And this bloke will soon be regulating your workplace and your super, and spending your taxes.
Kevin Rudd damns John Howard: "He has governed in easy times with no regard for the challenge that lies ahead."
Easy times include the September 11 attacks, the Bali bombings, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the growing terrorist threat at home and in our region, our intervention in East Timor, the rise of people smuggling, the need for waterfront reform, the 1997 Asian stock market collapse and the huge public debt left by the Keating Government. Im left with deep doubts that Rudd would have done as well as Howard in dealing with exactly these easy challenges.
Easy times include the September 11 attacks, the Bali bombings, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the growing terrorist threat at home and in our region, our intervention in East Timor, the rise of people smuggling, the need for waterfront reform, the 1997 Asian stock market collapse and the huge public debt left by the Keating Government. Im left with deep doubts that Rudd would have done as well as Howard in dealing with exactly these easy challenges.
This is pretty telling: Jason Koutsoukis of the Sunday Age;
Asked to write a story about who the Liberals might fear the most, I dug up this quote about Rudd from a senior Liberal strategist: Rudd is the class prat, the sort of guy who would have worn a bow tie to the high school quiz contest, said my source. He might know all the answers, but everyone would want to beat him up after school.
The phone started ringing very early on the day the story appeared and before the receiver even reached my ear I could hear someone shouting at me.
Amid liberal use of the f-word and several colourful references to me being some kind of very smelly, very fat and very stupid walking genital not fit to breathe the same air as human beings, I realised that it was none other than the bow-tied class prat himself.
The problem, it took me some minutes to work out, was the bit about the bow tie.
I never even knew what a f---king bow tie was when I was in high school, let alone how to put one on, Rudd bawled down the phone.
Asked to write a story about who the Liberals might fear the most, I dug up this quote about Rudd from a senior Liberal strategist: Rudd is the class prat, the sort of guy who would have worn a bow tie to the high school quiz contest, said my source. He might know all the answers, but everyone would want to beat him up after school.
The phone started ringing very early on the day the story appeared and before the receiver even reached my ear I could hear someone shouting at me.
Amid liberal use of the f-word and several colourful references to me being some kind of very smelly, very fat and very stupid walking genital not fit to breathe the same air as human beings, I realised that it was none other than the bow-tied class prat himself.
The problem, it took me some minutes to work out, was the bit about the bow tie.
I never even knew what a f---king bow tie was when I was in high school, let alone how to put one on, Rudd bawled down the phone.
ohn Howard wins - the endorsement of most newspaper editorials today, that is:
Adelaides Sunday Mail:
Change for changes sake is not a good enough reason to vote out a Government The Sunday Mail believes the Coalition is best placed to govern Australia for the next three years.
Perths Sunday Times:
The Sunday Times believes change for change sake is simply not an adequate trigger to throw out a Coalition Government which, while far from perfect, has overseen record prosperity in WA and the nation.
Sydneys Sunday Telegraph:
The Sunday Telegraph accepts readers believe it is finally time to give Labor a go. But Mr Rudd ... must stare down a Labor cabinet inhabited by many with union and factional allegiances The Sunday Telegraph advocates a vote for Labor, provided Mr Rudd give these assurances.
Melbournes Sunday Herald:
But why take the chance? Why change horses when Australia galloping strongly ahead with the lowest unemployment in a generation? ... Australians should stick with Mr Howard.
Melbournes Sunday Age:
On the contenders exposed form,The Sunday Age does not see enough differences between the Coalition and Labor to urge readers to vote for one over the other.
(Those missing are ones I cant yet find.)
This verdict is interesting because, among other things, it isnt common for newspapers to advocate a vote for the underdog. We like to back winners. Another reason this is interesting is the Rudd hasnt even been able to get the support of the Sunday Age.
Adelaides Sunday Mail:
Change for changes sake is not a good enough reason to vote out a Government The Sunday Mail believes the Coalition is best placed to govern Australia for the next three years.
Perths Sunday Times:
The Sunday Times believes change for change sake is simply not an adequate trigger to throw out a Coalition Government which, while far from perfect, has overseen record prosperity in WA and the nation.
Sydneys Sunday Telegraph:
The Sunday Telegraph accepts readers believe it is finally time to give Labor a go. But Mr Rudd ... must stare down a Labor cabinet inhabited by many with union and factional allegiances The Sunday Telegraph advocates a vote for Labor, provided Mr Rudd give these assurances.
Melbournes Sunday Herald:
But why take the chance? Why change horses when Australia galloping strongly ahead with the lowest unemployment in a generation? ... Australians should stick with Mr Howard.
Melbournes Sunday Age:
On the contenders exposed form,The Sunday Age does not see enough differences between the Coalition and Labor to urge readers to vote for one over the other.
(Those missing are ones I cant yet find.)
This verdict is interesting because, among other things, it isnt common for newspapers to advocate a vote for the underdog. We like to back winners. Another reason this is interesting is the Rudd hasnt even been able to get the support of the Sunday Age.
its interesting, at the start of the campaigns i was thinking "howard is a moron, lets vote rudd" and now my vote is firmly planted with the liberal party, because while some of their foriegn policies make me cringe, its much better for business, better for the economy, and ultimately better for me if they win. and i think Daniel asked the right question when he brought up whether or not i beleived rudd would change after he was elected...its very clever to mask the labour party as conservatives, to win votes, but at the end of the day, their policies are still pretty scary.
i got an sms from vodafone telling me to vote labor.. i thought that was pretty interesting...
Post by ruruThe Herald Sun put it very diplomatically stating that even if Rudd himself didn't change, that didn't account for the rest of the party who hold greater influence then he could alone. Personally I think he'll change quite quickly - it'll be all spin when he does, but he doesn't look comfortable in his current portrayal of 'Kevin Rudd'.
and i think Daniel asked the right question when he brought up whether or not i beleived rudd would change after he was elected...its very clever to mask the labour party as conservatives, to win votes, but at the end of the day, their policies are still pretty scary.
In answer to the Vodafone issue, there's nothing against them doing that. Political parties (and those they employ) are exempt from the opt-out 'spam' list.
And on how the election will go;
The Fairfax papers tomorrow will say its a Labor landslide, with AC Nielsen saying Labor is ahead by 57 to 43 per cent.
The News Ltd papers will say its a cliff-hanger, with Galaxy saying Labor is ahead by only 52 to 48 per cent.
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