While americans are spending their time debating who should lead the republican party spare a thought for your Aussie cousins who have been subjected to months of media hype over who should lead the Labor Party and the nation and this isn't even an election campaign
Labor's strain over leadership war between Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd | News.com.au (http://www.news.com.au/national/labors-strain-over-leadership-war/story-e6frfkvr-1226277782048)

Auntie Julia's Circus is in town again (is the Little Red Fox in charge of the hen house or not?)

Rumor has it, when Krudd returns from his latest trip he is for the big chop

In a remarkable twist, Krudd has proved himself a statesman and the bigger man
Kevin Rudd Resigns As Foreign Minister (http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/soap-opera-must-end-rudd-quits-as-foreign-minister-20120222-1tn8j.html)

Is the party better with Red Julia at the helm ? I think not.

It seems someone must agree because there will be a leadership ballot on Monday. Who called for it?
Krudd kept saying he supported the Prime Minister so everyone supports the Little Red Fox but they have to prove it when no one else has made a challenge. Sounds like the day of the long knives when someone will emerge from the shadows. Shorten? Crean?


The party is a dead man walking, If Krudd leaves parliament or sits on the cross benches the Government will fall. Last vote 71-70. Labor is so on the nose in Queensland they are using university students as candidates

So your Labor party isn't long for this world and it looks to me like our Repubics will go the way of the Whigs . Cool. Change we can believe in.

So your Labor party aint long for this world and it looks to me like our Repubics will go the way of the Whigs . Cool. Change we can believe in.

So let it be written... so let it be done

So K Rudd resigned so he could challenge Red Julia for leadership ? Turn around is fair play . I saw video of KRudd . He looked hot tempered and profane... a big difference over the statesmanship and dignified tenure of John Howard.

So K Rudd resigned so he could challenge Red Julia for leadership ? Turn around is fair play . I saw video of KRudd . He looked hot tempered and profane ......a big difference over the statesmanship and dignified tenure of John Howard.

Yes an old video made during a recording session and realise of it is a breach of trust, some of the dirty tricks we have come to expect from Labor. Krudd admits to being profane at times but now we are told his colleagues cannot work with him. What we have here is two egotists tearing each other apart. It is a true Shakespearian drama.

Krudd is the peoples pick, not only do they like an underdog, but they have not forgotten how he was stabbed in the back in the Gillard coup. They see picking the PM as their choice. We see Gillard not only as disloyal but also a liar who has misled the electorate. In this fight she has shown herself to be vindictive. She rules not by the will of the people but the whim of the Greens and independents. It's an unwritten rule that an elected PM is not removed without losing a parliamentary vote. Krudd is a statesman, but has proven not to be a team player, he also imposes work habits that are unreasonable, but he has the ability to win elections. His ego doesn't allow him to take advice well
http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-world-according-to-rudd-an-insiders-guide/
In a party that prides itsself on consensus in the tradition of Bob Hawke this does not bode well

Wasn't Hawke also dumped in a coup by a staffer named Paul Keating ?

Wasn't Hawke also dumped in a coup by a staffer named Paul Keating ?

Similar scenario to Krudd, Keating had been Federal Teasurer and heir apparent to Hawke for years. Keating was a vile profane person about as slippery as Gillard. His knifing of Hawke was his down fall allowing Howard to rise, but what Gillard did was unprecedented, deposing a first term Prime Minister who had won office after years in the wilderness

Labor has a history of not lasting long in office, thus the emphasis on frequent change of leadership. It took the Howard government 11 years to lose momentum and its head. During that time even heir apparent Costello wouldn't challenge leadership. It took Krudd just over two years to completely lose his way and be deposed

Guess a back bencher from Tazmania will decide who the party leader will be .

Guess a back bencher from Tazmania will decide who the party leader will be .

They don't call it Van Demon's Land for nothing. Yes Mr. Browne may have some input about who he would support, and so will Wilkie but who decides are the faction bosses.

The play book works this way, If Krudd is elected he then has to stitch together enough support to have the Governor-General agree he should form a government, otherwise she will appoint Abbott who holds the most seats of any party and he will immediately call an election. Abbot's best bet is to give Krudd time to fail, but the blood is in the water.

If Gillard wins it is business as usual, but the factional bosses will be casting around for a new candidate because it is apparent Gillard cannot win the next election. It's a Hobson's choice situation.

I still say Shorten will emerge from the shadows

Just read up on him, He's got pedigree ;a consummate lifetime member of the permanent professional ruling class . He definitely appears to have his dagger concealled behind his cloak .I'm beginning to get the impression that it is not a good a idea for an Aussie politician to keep their enemies close.

Just read up on him, He's got pedigree ;a consumate lifetime member of the permanent professional ruling class . He definitely appears to have his dagger concealled behind his cloak .I'm begining to get the impression that it is not a good a idea for an Aussie politician to keep their enemies close.

Not too close Tom, Gillard was a krudd supporter once and who would want Browne on their side
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/shortens-audacity-of-hope-drove-this-crisis/story-e6frgd0x-1226281006443

Early in his tenure, Rudd was reported to be reading Doris Kearns Goodwin's classic study of Abraham Lincoln's cabinet, Team of Rivals, the exemplar on how to work with those who once fought you for their own presidential ambitions. Rudd clearly learned nothing from Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln's “Team of Rivals” didn't work nearly as well as Doris Kearns Goodwin says it did. William Seward ,Salmon P. Chase ,and several other Cabinet officers were disloyal and that hurt the early Union efforts . Lincoln constantly had to battle intrigue inside his administration at the worse time for such shennanigans in our nation's history.

I'm glad for Goodwin that her book was such a success . But it was based more on wishful thinking than fact .

Perhaps he has read the Art of War

Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat

perhaps he has read the Art of War

Or perhaps he hasn't. Things have gone the way for Krudd that was predicted and Julia has picked up a new nickname in the process, Red Caviar makes a change from Juliar

Go tony abbott !

Go tony abbott !

Yes Abbott has been given enough ammunition to last eighteen months

Why is Red Julia still the PM ? Did the KRudd counter-coup fall short ?

Don't you read the news, she had the numbers and now we have a surprise, and dare I say it a posible contender for PM. She has appointed Bob Carr one of the most successful Labor Premiers of New South Wales Foreign Minister and Bob is not known for playing second fiddle. Red Caviar has risked her support base by parachuting Bob into the Senate and ignoring the wishes of her supporters. It might be a case of take me for a ride in your car Carr