It's interesting how the Australian political dynamics change. The latest opinion polls have really given Labor a boost. Mr Rudd is busily changing things, although the more they change, the more some things stay the same. Mr Abbott is struggling to respond and as a consequence has done a few silly things. With their standard writing parameters upset, the media is struggling to work out how to deal with it all.
In the midst of all the turmoil, watch the economy. This will finally lay down the parameters of the policy debate, and the Australian economy has entered a very interesting phase. My feeling is that Mr Rudd is in no haste to rush to an election. The longer he delays, the longer current economic trends have to work themselves out.
3 comments:
I actually looked up that phrase in Wikipedia for the first time:
In order to keep the campaign on message, Carville hung a sign in Bill Clinton's Little Rock campaign headquarters that read:
Change vs. more of the same
The economy, stupid
Don't forget health care.[2]
Although the sign was intended for an internal audience of campaign workers, the phrase became a de facto slogan for the Clinton election campaign.
So, the more things change, the more they stay the same - to steal yet another old saw.
Interestingly, "it's the economy stupid" does not appear as one of Clinton's memorable quotes!
kvd
I thought that it came from the Clinton campaign, kvd, but I didn't know the details.
Jim,
I expect the election outcome will be determined by perceptions of economic performance. But timing of the election will be determined by how quickly Mr Rudd's novelty value wears off in the polls.
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