Simon Creen - Leader of the Labor Party

[BrisGirl]

I will be honest with you........I am not sure about him.

I know he has only been there 30 seconds, but is whole vibe and persona is not a warm one.

His face is constantly pinched and even though he could be saying genuine policy issues and show enthusiasm for what he believes in, I just can not see his eyes.

The eyes have it.......what a person can see in the eyes is what will change your mind or convince a undecided person.

If I can not see someone's eyes, to see if there is geniune care or passion showing, I can not look at them.

He will have to work extra hard, along with winning policies to win me over.

You don't have to be a good looking person to be in Polictics, just look at Mr Howard and Mr Beazley but at least I could look at them to hear what they had to say.

[Bloodstained Angel]

Loved the comment from Lynton Crosby (Fed Director of the Liberal Party and a Tory prat if ever there was one) a few days ago :

"The ALPs idea of generational change is to replace a 53yo son of a Whitlam Government Minister with a 52yo son of a Whitlam Government Minister"

Ha Ha Ha - damn straight.

Crean is talkng the talk at the moment but can he walk the walk ?

I don't think so.

cheers

[TheMase]

Let us all wait and see hmm?

Dont judge him yet

[Shinboners]

With the Mase on this one. Let's just wait and see.

Having watched how Crean has acted since the election, he has come across as being quite positive and focussed. He's gotten rid of half the old shadow cabinet and brought in some new faces, and he's made the right noises about trying to change the factional influences and the union influence on the party. Okay, as BSA has posted, it's merely talking the talk, but you have to give him longer to see if he can walk the walk.

Crean is essentially the front man, the one that has to sell the policies to the electorate and lead the charge against the government. If his shadow cabinet (and from press reports, it seems that there is some good talent there (especially Mark Latham who has this rather good habit of speaking his mind), and if they can come up with good policy, there is no reason why they cannot win the next election.

Oh, and Simon, if you're reading this, slip something into your Sports and Recreation Policy that ensures that a certain football club where you hold the number 1 ticket gets some "special assistance". ;)

[Gonzo]

Originally posted by Shinboners

Oh, and Simon, if you're reading this, slip something into your Sports and Recreation Policy that ensures that a certain football club where you hold the number 1 ticket gets some "special assistance". ;)

Surely there is a position for a "Shadow Minister for the Football Team That Trains At Arden Street"

or

"Shadow Minister for All Football Teams With Nicknames That Start With K"

or

"Shadow Minister for the Team That Blighty Played With When He Kicked That 130 Metre Goal With One Leg Into Howling Gale at Princess Park All Those Years Ago"

Can't understand why this hasn't been thought of already :D

Cheers

Gonzo

[Shinboners]

Originally posted by Gonzo
"Shadow Minister for the Team That Blighty Played With When He Kicked That 130 Metre Goal With One Leg Into Howling Gale at Princess Park All Those Years Ago"

Didn't we agree that Blight was in the carpark* with all his arms and legs amputated, held down by 20,000 departing Carlton fans and facing the wrong way to the goal whilst lying on the ground unconscious when he took that shot at goal?

Cheers
SB


*Er, that is, the carpark at JFK Stadium in Washington DC, the United States. ;)

[Shinboners]

Originally posted by Gonzo
Can't understand why this hasn't been thought of already :D


Speaking of new ideas, as someone said on radio the other day, the ALP has 30,000 members while the Adelaide FC has 40,000 members. So Simon, get a special deal going where ALP and Kangaroo members get reciprocal rights (and that includes special deals on removing skeletons from the closet, burying of said skeletons, and identical superannuation rights as long serving ALP politicians and in return, ALP members get entry into all North Melbourne home games in Victoria) and we can boost both sets of membership figures. ;)

[Jars458]

Originally posted by Shinboners


Speaking of new ideas, as someone said on radio the other day, the ALP has 30,000 members while the Adelaide FC has 40,000 members. . ;)

That's a pretty scary thought really, especially as AFC membership is far more exepensive!!


The ALP and the AFC are about as democratic as each other though.

See my post on the Adelaide board on this issue.


One is run by the Unions, the other by a few old blokes on the SANFL commission.

Frightening.

[Shed]

Not really a Labor fan, but I think he's a good choice.
Seems very competent.

[Pessimistic]

Crean is a good operator.

To the one who wanted a 'personality' - Remember Reagan ?

But I see the libs are already using the 'sour crean' nickname. They really are low.

With the exception of PJK the ALP are much better when it comes to avoiding personal insults

[iceman]

i think ill reserve my judgement on him for now - dont know much about him as yet

[ah_19]

my dad knew him, he worked with him
dads always been a labour voter, always
i wouldnt be surprised if he voted liberals this time :P

[Joe Mama]

I think that the ALP electing Simon Crean is complete crap., they really should have taken a punt (like the Victorian State branch did when they voted for Steve Bracks, after John Brumby quit from the leadership) and gone for Jenny Macklin, because Simon Crean is unelectable, and the day he becomes PM, my arse will start to point north.

They've got absolutely nothing to lose and with a woman in the top job in the ALP, the female vote is an absolute shoe-in, my gut reaction is that he wont be the man to get Labor back into power, and in the next election we'll be left with the choice of Mr Smirk (Peter Costello) and Mr Sneer (Simon Crean).

[Pessimistic]

Originally posted by ah_19
my dad knew him, he worked with him
dads always been a labour voter, always
i wouldnt be surprised if he voted liberals this time :P

Originally posted by ah_19
my dad knew him, he worked with him
dads always been a liberal voter, always
i wouldnt be surprised if he voted labour this time :P

Messages posted by party operatives always have this line. Politicians know to ignore it

[Leia]

Despite a total lack of charisma, I think he was the best choice for the Labor leadership. I do quite like what he's had to say so far, but time will tell.
I don't think, however, he's got a hope in hell of leading the ALP to win the next election (a long way off yet, i know) - if/when he comes up against either Howard or (more likely) Costello he will be convincingly beaten.

[Rusty Brookes]

Originally posted by Wayde Petersen
I think that the ALP electing Simon Crean is complete crap., they really should have taken a punt (like the Victorian State branch did when they voted for Steve Bracks, after John Brumby quit from the leadership) and gone for Jenny Macklin, because Simon Crean is unelectable, and the day he becomes PM, my arse will start to point north.

They've got absolutely nothing to lose and with a woman in the top job in the ALP, the female vote is an absolute shoe-in, my gut reaction is that he wont be the man to get Labor back into power, and in the next election we'll be left with the choice of Mr Smirk (Peter Costello) and Mr Sneer (Simon Crean).

I put in a vote for Macklin in another thread and got poo-pooed. However I'm with you on this one Wayde. She effectively killed off Bronwyn Bishop's career with a scathing attack on TV where poor old Bronnie was left gasping like a fish out of water. With that performance I thought here is someone that can least argue and debate a point , and do it well.

[DEVO]

I agree, Jenny Macklin would make an excellent PM. She is extremelly bright. Can be tough when needed, and is generally a very compasionate Polician, and doesn't carry any negative baggage. According to my sister, who works at Parliament House, some Labour people are saying that if Crean doesn't soften his image he may be gone inside a year. Whether Mackin gets the job remains to be seen, because she is from the left.

It will be interesting to see if Crean can change the Labour Party and eliminate the factional fighting, because it may the one thing that keeps him in the job. Who knows, we may have a female PM inside the next three years.

[Pessimistic]

I have never heard so much negativity around a new leader. Labour MPs are saying that already then perhaps we'd better all give up.

Even Alexander Downer got a fair go in the first week or so.

They obviously see Jenny Mac as a future leader but there is one small problem of removing John Howard to be done first. Johnny must think he has a winning formula for elections (divide and conquer) so it will need a very smart political animal.

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Originally posted by Wayde Petersen
and in the next election we'll be left with the choice of Mr Smirk (Peter Costello) and Mr Sneer (Simon Crean). to replace Mr Sheen! Is this a political system or a Mr Men fan club? :D