Thought so
It seems I'm not the only one with Kath and Kim on the mind when pondering the future of federal Labor (please see "New Captain of the Titanic", QP posting 20 Jan 2005). From Margo Kingston's Webdiary:"Social analyst David Chalke suggests one simple step taken by every Labor MP could begin rebuilding the brand. 'I would stick a large picture of Kath and Kim on every Labor MP's wall and say to them 'that is your audience - don't upset them'."
"They should look at that Kath and Kim poster and ask themselves, 'How would they react to what I am just about to say'," Chalke says. "And then, only if it is going to make them happy, do you say it."
Kingston goes on to lament: That's what the ALP will get with Beazley.
I think this is just a matter of facing reality. The Fountain Lakes 'burbs are the growth areas. Suburban Sydney and Melbourne will only get bigger and uglier, and Labor is obviously on the nose there. There's little point having Rudd or Gillard in charge to appeal to the inner-city lefties and/or try and take the party to somewhere resembling the left wing of the political spectrum as it would just be preaching to the converted and electorally futile. Someone has to take on Howard's undeniable electoral appeal with the Kaths and Kims and I believe Beazley, as a fairly likable but also fairly right-wing, conservative sort of bloke, is currently the only person in the ALP with a fighting chance of doing this.
Leave the lefty stuff to Bob Brown. He does it so much better. That's why the Murdoch media, the Libs and Family Fist see him as such a threat and go to such great lengths to discredit him. The Greens may never win a seat in Fountain Lakes or Kellyville but keep your long-term eye on Grayndler (Newtown/Marrickville-based seat), Sydney, Melbourne, Melbourne Ports and even Denison in Hobart. Between the Greens and Beazley's ALP, there may just be a strong enough coalition (assuming they ever do get into bed together - unlikely but nice to dream) to conquer Darth Howard and the Liberal Death Star.
QP
28/1/05
posted by Sam @ Saturday, January 29, 2005
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