It was interesting to see Howard use the same old mudslinging tactics on Rudd to little or no avail. He's so used to having aggressive opponents that he can rile with personal attacks that he seemed to get panicky and flustered every time Rudd would giggle at or shrug him off. It certainly demonstrated to me that Rudd has learned something from his predecessors about the way to deal with Howard - ie. if he remains unfazed by personal criticism and instead hammers home those soundbites about education and Howard's shitty record as Treasurer he'll win some public appeal.
That said, Rudd's constant smug smirks and carefully practised gestures were driving me nuts. In learning from the mistakes of Beazley and Latham he's evidently hired a team of marketing consultants to work out ways to sell him and Labor policies to the public, and that's what most of his speech felt like - a sales pitch ('wanna buy an education revolution, sonny?').
I could almost see the scene with his immaculately slick Speech Coach - 'you gotta level with the Australian people, man. Seem approachable and honest, but a dash of cheeky schoolboy won't go astray either. Now, remember the gesture I taught you when you bring up the FIVE TIMES Howard screwed up when he was Treasurer? Let's see it again, buddy! Yeah, you nailed it! High fives all round!'
Inherently, there's probably nothing wrong with taking a different approach to selling yourself to the Australian people - the usual method of bashing your opponent and making outrageous promises has always stuck in my craw, anyway (I wish I knew where or what my craw was, so I could dig it out and sleep easily, but we all have our challenges in life). However, there's a fine line between seeming honest, collected and intelligent when you sell and seeming like a reject from the casting couch of a Baker's Delight commercial. I'd be more likely to believe Rudd's attitude and leadership are destined to be 'fresh' and 'hip' if I didn't see that glazed look in his eyes - the one that tells me he's desperately trying to recall the 'fresh' and 'hip' phrases he's been fed by some wanker in an Armani suit who challenged him to a game of Foosball while they 'rapped' about politics.
At this moment, I think Rudd did some good things for his popularity last night. On the other hand, I'm anticipating Howard will have many, many more ridiculous and unattainable promises to make before the campaign is through - he's so wild for them, he even tried to get Rudd to make some last night as well. Whether or not the Australian public will fall for them - and then shrug when they turn out to be leprechaun gold - remains to be seen.
