It’s been a policy-free Saturday as Team Howard and Kevin07 meet-and-greet – Howard in his own seat of Bennelong at the Granny Smith Festival and Rudd in Melbourne’s Liberal seat of Latrobe.
Howard had a couple of senior’s moments, addressing the assembled throng as “Mr. Speaker” and bungling his one-handed apple juggling for the TV cameras. Rudd managed to get some more air time with his tax cuts for education slice of the tax cut plan.
The MSM are pretty happy to call Team Howard as the winner of the first week of the campaign. Rudd supporters are frustrated with Rudd’s continuing small-target wedge-free anti-politics strategy and left wondering what $34 billion might have been spent on besides tax cuts – the value of which will largely have been pissed up against the wall with the next round of petrol price and interest rate rises. Strategically, however, Kevin07 have effectively neutralised tax as an issue. Team Howard are accusing Kevin07 of stealing their tax plan, with Howard claiming there is only one tax plan – his. Aside from the inherent contradiction here, from a voter’s perspective it will make no difference who you vote for – you will get your tax cut. However, Kevin07’s contains more prospect for genuine long term reform with an eventual flat-tax rate across the board – every low-tax advocate’s wet dream.
And so on to the debate. The main issue of interest, apart from The Worm, is whether Rudd will be bold enough to attempt any significant product differentiation or continue with the Howard-Lite strategy. Kevin07’s ‘we-shall-not-be-wedged’ strategy is likely to be safe and effective in the long run, given the MSM’s implicit support for the Howard as King of Politics narrative, but it gives no comfort or inspiration to those who believe politics should be about more than tax cuts and conservative fiscal posturing.
Neither side deserved a point for yesterday’s efforts, so I’ll defer to MSM sentiment and give it to Team Howard for keeping alive the dream.
Cross posted at Blogotariat.
Filed under: Federal Election 2007, Politics
