Rachel Ward's article!

[Wicked Lester]

Did anyone else see Rachel Ward's article in The Age on 'why she loves Latham.'

Poor old Mark Latham must have cringed when he read it. These celebrity types never get it do they? Nothing turns the average punter off more than a bunch of activist celebrities rallying around a political cause. It was poison for Keating and it will be for Latham as well.

The more that come out of the woodwork the greater the chances of re-election for JWH.

I suspect Latham is smart enough to distance himself from our artists - but they may yet seduce him.

 

[The invisible mullet]

While i generally agree with you it should be remembered that it worked for Whitlam.

 

[Wicked Lester]

Originally posted by The invisible mullet
While i generally agree with you it should be remembered that it worked for Whitlam.

Whitlam won - but it was not a resounding victory in terms of his electoral majority.

The Whitlam government was elected with 67 seats to 58 for the Coalition. Hardly a thumping victory given the 'great man' (his words) was up against Billy Big Ears, someone largely regarded as one of our most ineffectual PM's. The myth that Whitlam was swept to power is just that - a myth. He was comfortably elected, but it was not an electoral thumping in the same way as '75, '83 or '96.

I guess the real point is that 'celebrities' at that point weren't regarded with the same level of cynicism they are today. At that time many broke with convention in stating their politics. Today many of them are preaching day in, day out.

 

[Hollypig]

& did'nt the Sydney latte set just do wonders for the republican monatorium.

 

[dan warna]

i don't think seats is often a good indicator of how you went in the polls.

in the early 90s the lib/nats won the majority of the vote, labor got less than 41% of the primary vote and about 48% of the tpp, but won the majority of the seats, similarly the roles were reversed in the fed election around 97 with beazley getting more primary votes, and 52%tpp in the election but still losing the majority of seats.

liberals by contrast romped in the last federal election with 51% of the vote, despite a reduced primary vote.

Bracks controls victoria, but still only got about 52 or 53% of the vote, similarly with jeff.

48% may vote against you, but you can still have a landslide in the house, (that is why everytime the VEC or the AEC makes a 2ft change in the electoral boundary their is histrionics in the house by one party or the other!)

 

[The invisible mullet]

But if you want a better example of something that didn't really work then does anyone remember Red Wedge (and Neil Kinnock)?

 

[The invisible mullet]

Re: Viva Red Wedge

Originally posted by Mark Perica
Unlike the disgusting Hollywood democrats I thought Red Wedge were OK - talk about talent Alexei Sayle, Elvis Costello, Madness, the Beat and the Jam - it was a whose who of New Wave Talent and they had a bit of street cred about them too. Neil Kinnock deserved to win - the problem with his campaign was it was way too presidential and not grass roots enough

I had no problem with the talent (don't forget Billy Bragg) it just didn't work. Its worth remembering though that some of Bragg's Liberal/Labour vote swapping did work in 1997.

 

[Wicked Lester]

Re: Viva Red Wedge

Originally posted by Mark Perica
Unlike the disgusting Hollywood democrats I thought Red Wedge were OK - talk about talent Alexei Sayle, Elvis Costello, Madness, the Beat and the Jam - it was a whose who of New Wave Talent and they had a bit of street cred about them too. Neil Kinnock deserved to win - the problem with his campaign was it was way too presidential and not grass roots enough

Well Kinnock's campaign had to be presidential really. The British Labour Party at that point was basically a mental asylum for the socialist left. If they'd run a grassroots campaign with the shining example of the Labour Left's Liverpool City Council debacle as a backdrop it would have electorial oblivion for them.

Kinnock represented a beacon of sanity at least.