Let me begin by saying, I’m not a massive politics nerd, I’m not even 100% sure how our government system works. I mean I’m not completely uneducated on the topic, though that’s only due my own research. (Thanks school, for teaching me all the important stuff like algebra and poetry analysis, but not how voting works or how the government is run). I know enough to keep up with most political conversations I hear, and to enjoy them, and to make up my own mind about voting.
Importantly, I know that we don’t vote for a leader, we vote for a party.
Or rather, we vote for local members, who become government if they are in the majority (or even if they’re not) and through a series of events I don’t care to understand, involving the rather silly sounding word, ‘caucus’ choose a leader.
I know that the policies of the ALP haven’t really changed much between leaders, so, as a generally left leaning Labor voter, why do I kind of wish Kevin Rudd was still Prime Minister?
Because I like him, is the rather childish answer.
The Kevin07 campaign happened in the lead up to my first federal election. The first time I voted was for the Labor party, almost solely because of Kevin Rudd. My whole teen years had been dominated by John Howard, to the point where the name “Howard” was completely synonymous with the words “Prime Minister”. Sure, I remembered Keating, but the politics of my teens were refugees and the children overboard saga, GST and “unchain your heart”, Work Choices, and eyebrows. Kevin Rudd represented change, hope and a whole lot less facial hair.
PMKevin was well spoken and clever, he was easy to respect, in the way a dad is easy to respect. He was funny, again in a kind of lame dad way, but still. He went on Good News Week and Rove, he wasn’t afraid to say stupid shit about sauce bottles. He laughed off that time he picked his nose during Parliament. He went to that strip club that time. He got emotional on camera. His twitter stream was 50% informative, 50% about funny shit that happened to him in the course of being a Prime Minister. In short, he was likeable.
His ‘proud of the fact that’ speech, while repetitive to the point of embarrassment, was one of the best political speeches I’ve ever heard from an Australian pollie. Simply because it was honest, and gracious, and unlike anything you’d ever hear from any one else.
The day Kevin Rudd stopped being Prime Minister was simultaneously exciting and depressing for me. Exciting because of twitter, depressing because of Julia. Julia Gillard is so unlikeable, especially compared to Rudd. She’s cold, reserved and has an irritating voice. I bet if she picked her nose in parliament she would blame it on Tony Abbott.
I don’t have a lot to say about Rudd’s resignation as Foreign Minister today. I think it was inevitable, and about as graceful as possible in the circumstances. I do have this to say though: Hey Labor party members talking about disloyalty? What side were you on in June 2010 ha? And Wayne Swan? Kevin could fucking kick your ass in hand-to-hand combat. He would roll up those sleeves, take of those glasses and smash you into the fucking ground, you weedy bastard. Disloyalty, honestly, is that really the best word you can think of to discredit him?
I KNOW we’re meant to care about their politics, but if we’re being ruled by a party, and not by a leader, then why wouldn’t you want a funny, down-to-earth, sauce bottle shaking, twitter-savvy dad as that leader? That’s all I’m saying.
