Australian Election
Australia is holding a general election and things will get confusing for Americans because the labels and colors are mixed up.
The Hedgemony’s good friend, Prime Minister John Howard, leads the conservative Liberal Party, the blues.
The main opposition party led by Kevin Rudd, is the liberal Labor Party, the reds.
While Labor has been leading in the national polls, this thing could be decided at the local level, and it’s possible that the Liberals could hold on to power, but John Howard could lose his seat in parliament, as his constituency is not considered “safe.”
Update: Looks like a big ALP [Australian Labor Party] win, and John Howard lost his seat in parliament, Bennelong.
5 comments
It’s not just that he lost, but he lost big time. It’s a lesson for the GOP and the pundits here, too. I think they’ve grossly underestimated the ill will the electorate here have for the war and the Bushies, and on their morning after, they’re going to look around and — with no tinge of irony — wonder what the hell happened.
I’m not so sure it’s that much different a lesson from the 2006 midterms, Bobby. Labour won a clear majority in the lower house, but the upper house is, like our Senate, deadlocked. If I were to draw a conclusion from the last few election results to have come in, I think I’d be more inclined to conclude that voters want change–but not too much of it or too quickly.
Labor did much better than the polls seemed to indicate in the run up to the election, but it is going to be frustrating to not control the Senate, although that control may come in the next election. Like the US Senate only portion of the seats are up in any election.
The big issue seemed to be the economy and rising interest rates. The economy is booming but the effects are not widely distributed and the interest rate increase is being felt by the middle-class.
Actually, I think the fact that John Howard lost his seat is a pretty thorough repudiation of his policies as a individual and probably stings more than his party’s loss, as it’s the first time it has happened to a sitting prime minister in Australia.
This was about change, as much as anything, but support for the Shrubbery certainly isn’t a popular stance with Australians.
Go see the videos that Glenn Greenwald has posted of Howard vs. Obama and then Rudd calling him out on it in Parliament.
I’d forgotten about Howard’s foray into American politics. It’s amazing how experienced politicians get stupid when hanging around the Shrubbery.