Rudd is late but very welcome

Phillip Coorey

August 6, 2010

Opinion

Comments 81

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Kevin Rudd will survive

He may have been buried along with his policies, but the Ruddster is back with the help of Anthony Ackroyd.

It took Kevin Rudd seven minutes yesterday to mention Julia Gillard's name but in the Labor Party, no one was quibbling.

Certainly, some said it would have been better had he come out as strongly in the first week of the campaign. Back then, the Herald reported there was a desire for Rudd to do a Hillary Clinton.

It was a reference to her putting down the daggers after Barack Obama defeated her for the Democratic presidential nomination and her urging all Democrats to unite to fight a common enemy.

Back with a bang ... former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Photo: Paul Harris

Clinton was rewarded by becoming the US Secretary of State, the equivalent to the foreign affairs portfolio Rudd covets.

Rudd denied being behind the leaks that have caused enormous damage to Labor's campaign, but he is still generally blamed.

Helping Labor across the line on August 21 will, to him, be as much about protecting his own legacy.

Whatever the theory, there is no doubt his explosion on to the scene will change the dynamics of the campaign. It is not only Gillard who will be overshadowed at times, but also Abbott.

Rudd has threatened to hit the hustings on Sunday, the same day Abbott has his campaign launch in Brisbane.

Abbott will portray Rudd's re-emergence - as he did yesterday - as a reminder of what Labor heavies did to an elected prime minister. But Abbott now faces two opponents - Gillard and Rudd who, despite his many flaws, is brilliant at campaigning and staying on message. Yesterday he echoed Gillard's attack lines but with greater cut-through.

In this saga so far, Rudd has been the martyr and the villain. Now he wants to be seen as the white knight.

His constant inference is that Abbot will slide into power unless he intervenes. Labor will cut him slack on that if he succeeds.

This election campaign may have been uninspiring but it is a long, long way from boring.

Poll: Do you think the campaign will get more interesting now that Rudd's joined the fray?

Yes, he is nothing if not a great campaigner: 50%
No, it's still the same faces from both sides, saying the same things: 50%

Total votes: 5076.

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Poll closed 9 Aug, 2010

Disclaimer:

These polls are not scientific and reflect the opinion only of visitors who have chosen to participate.

81 comments

Who is the ALP? Who is the real PM? What are the ALP's policies? Are they now big or small Australia, big or very small mining tax? I don't know. I do know that I want and deserve clarity from my politicians. There is big policy divergence between Rudd and Gillard, otherwise we wouldn't be "moving forward" post Rudd (or is he back?). So what will things look like after the election if the ALP wins. The ALP is mocking the Australian voter. It is about power not policy, power and not the people it claims to represent. And is Kevin Rudd now preferred PM? Can the SMH please include him in the next poll on that subject?

Commenter

Chris

Date and time

August 06, 2010, 8:23AM
Mr. Rudd's greatest failing as prime minister was the internal contradictions of his own policy agenda, he wanted to reduce greenhouse emissions but also wanted a Big Australia, he was a fiscal conservative but wanted spend billions. In the end the public realised he couldn't or wouldn't deliver and his comrades struck him down as a result. Now we have the greatest contradiction of all, the man who was supposed to be losing the election for Labor is now supposed be the winning ingredient. If Mr. Abbott wins it will not be through sneaking in, it will occur because Labor cannot articulate a consistent or viable explanation of how they have governed Australia for the last three years.

Commenter

SteveH.

Date and time

August 06, 2010, 8:55AM
Yet another media beatup.
Rudd was in hospital having major surgery.
Unless he has a had of having healthy organs removed from his body, I suspect Rudd would have been in some pain/discomfort before his surgery.
This being the case I suspect Rudd would not have been well enough to be on the campaign trail.
But, lets not have the truth get in the way of a good story, eh SMH?

Commenter

cb

Date and time

August 06, 2010, 8:55AM
First he was Kevin07, the messiah who was going to save us all from the Evil Little Johnny.
Then he was Rudd the Dud, the failed leader who was leading us off into danger and Julia became the messiah who would 'move us forward'
Now he Rudd the 'brilliant' White Knight come to rescue the Damsel In Distress from the Evil Mad Monk.
This is all a B-grade movie plot....isn't it????

Commenter

s

Date and time

August 06, 2010, 8:58AM
Speaking of interventions, how reassuring to see that old war horse J.W.Howard enter the battle "all guns blazing".
Warmonger Howard has a long association with matters military; from his more recent illegal invasion (Iraq), back to the twenty-something lad who, safe in the knowledge that he wouldn't have to troop off to places of danger, actively campaigned that other young men do so (Vietnam).
So comforting to know that Howard and George Pell will have shared custody over Abbott's puppet strings.

Commenter

Peter

Date and time

August 06, 2010, 8:58AM
Wow the Labor team think the Austrlaian voters are smucks... question is are they right?..
Why would anyone be fooled by an Incompetent fools like Rudd.
NOT Good enough for the Labor party but good enough for the DUMB Voters.
Beggars belief that anyone would vote for this INCOMPETENT CORRUPT pack of Labor Thieves. (See Building the Education Revelution THEFT of $8,000,0000,000.00 of Tax Payers money Assisted and Faciliated by Nomne other than KEVIN RUDD and JULIA GILLARD)
Vote for someone who ROBS you and Your Country BLIND?
You know it makes sense....NOT!..
.

Commenter

Louise H

Date and time

August 06, 2010, 9:04AM
I am fascinated by the ongoing talk about Kevin Rudd being assassinated by the faceless men of the NSW right. I have a pretty good recollection of the equally hard line men of the South Australian Liberal right, Nick Minchin and Cory Bernardi arranging the assassination of Malcolm Turnbull.
The regular talk is that Abbott had no idea the leadership was going to land his way but if anyone believes that those 2 warriors of the right, one of whom believes an ETS is a communist attempt to de-industrialise the West, thought that the soft Joe Hockey would win must have been living under a rock. There was only ever going to be one winner and that was the one that reflected their weird views of the World, Tony Abbott.
You only have to look at the way the right wing of the NSW Liberals operate (much the same way as Sussex Street) in their internecine wars between Clark and Hawke to see that both of these extreme wings have much in common.

Commenter

Peter

Location

Sydney

Date and time

August 06, 2010, 9:04AM
Kevin Rudd, you are Ohhhhhhhhh so welcome.
Message posted on behalf of the Australian Liberal Party.

Commenter

George

Location

Sydney

Date and time

August 06, 2010, 9:06AM
why would bringing the most incompetant PM since Whitlam into the spot light, be a good thing??

Commenter

brad

Location

sydney

Date and time

August 06, 2010, 9:08AM
It is worng to claim Kevin Rudd's prime ministership is "elected by the people". None of the Australian prime ministers had been "elected by the people". It is forgivable Kevin Rudd may think so. But it is dead wrong that every commentators has followed the same line.

Commenter

East

Location

Sydney

Date and time

August 06, 2010, 9:10AM

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Poll

Campaign up a notch

Do you think the campaign will get more interesting now that Rudd's joined the fray?

Poll closed 9 Aug, 2010

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Total votes: 5076

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Video

Kevin Rudd will survive

He may have been buried along with his policies, but the Ruddster is back with the help of Anthony Ackroyd.

If the economy is a car, victory should go to the best mechanic

It has become commonplace to observe that the election will be decided on the issue of ''economic management''. Who do you trust to run the economy? This week, we are told, the focus of the campaign has swung firmly back to the economy, mostly because Julia Gillard wants it that way.