Comments on: He said – She said: a secret weapon for Labor

By: Guido

Guido — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 11:50:16 +0000

Any jokes about cancer are not funny. But I think that the general standard of debate in Parliament is lower than what it was from what I gather, including humor.

I read somewhere that Menzies was talking in Parliament about being able to attract the ‘working man’ to the Liberal Party (Howard was not the first). Menzies told of an occasion where he was riding in his car and a truck driver called him and told him what a great job he was doing. “He should have been charged with drunk driving!” came the retort from the Labor side.

Maybe the next ‘star recruit’ for Labor should be a comedian.

By: Yobbo

Yobbo — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:15:14 +0000

Mungo has the advantage of having all day to sit around and think up those witty responses.

By: observa

observa — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 08:55:47 +0000

She’s not real popular with women voters from my casual observation, by the way. Could be some secret women’s business there, I wouldn’t know.

By: observa

observa — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 08:46:39 +0000

“Even so, I still find it infuriating that my outrage at whats happening cannot be expressed without damage to those who are seeking to defend themselves against it.”
Relax Nicholas. It’s just a necessary evil in politics nowadays, what with an attack dog media and all of them wanting to be budding Woodward and Bernsteins. No way any of our leaders can hide anything past or present from the public anymore and Rudd’s handling the glare of the spotlight OK. Streuth, think of all the background, rumours and innuendo about Howard, Costello and Co over the years. They all need really thick skins. Someone, somewhere always has another piece of their experiences, background and pecaddillos to divulge at any time and it’s just a matter of if and when it strikes the media’s fancy to publish. Rudd and Cos time has simply come, because of those polls. He needs to worry more about tax scales for the big debate, than about past medical operations now. As for dirt files, they only get published if they’re true and newsworthy, or used in a campaign to paint another picture over some airbrushed, publicity portraits. Gillard seems a lot more paranoid about that process for mine. Has she got some political skeletons in the closet or is it just that she loathes being photographed without her makeup on, metaphorically speaking?

By: Mangoman

Mangoman — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 02:15:20 +0000

I think Mungo was definitely on the right track. Use humour, be a little self deprecating if necessary but they should make sure that they are always putting the focus on Costello’s lack of courage, Howard’s slipperiness, Downer’s foolishness etc.

The hoi polloi will respond better to this type of approach than to the ranting of Costello.

By: Bring Back CL's blog

Bring Back CL's blog — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 23:02:32 +0000

it has been interesting to see the journos write how brilliaant Costello has been in Parliament re Burke oe this yet the polls say the opposite.

Remember it was costello’s big mouth that led to one of his chief supporters resigning

By: Nicholas Gruen

Nicholas Gruen — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 12:48:43 +0000

Yes, testicular cancer is not a goer – I agree!

By: Amanda

Amanda — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 08:51:43 +0000

Jokes about testicular cancer = electoral suicide.

Labor just needs to avoid drawing attention to itself in its response to the dirt, the impression which needs to be left in the collective mind is that its the Fed Govt desperate enough to stoop to it. If ever a small target strategy was a good idea, its on this one.

By: David Jackmanson

David Jackmanson — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 06:03:05 +0000

Hawke was fed his riposte to Fraser by Richard Farmer, the wine merchant. Maybe they ALP should hire him.