@jeeprs,
Quote:I agree but note that Green's support also dived considerably when JG got the nod. Why? Some say because she has instantly attracted such a large proportion of female voters who had gone over to the greens.
But - and I am actually a member of the Greens - I agree that Rudd erred in not talking to them or taking them seriously. However I don't know if under Bob Brown and the various state MPs if they really are going to become a force. They waste far too much energy on quixotic policies.
Yes, I've noticed that dive in Greens support in the recent polls, jeeprs.
Actually, I wondered how
real (in terms of voting
intentions) the swell in Greens support, as seen in Rudd's dismal last polls, actually was. I suspected it might have been more of a protest against Rudd's various policy back-flips, particular regarding the ETS. That was disastrous turn-off for the left of the party & disastrous for Rudd's credibility. So much for "the greatest moral challenge of our time"!
I, too, have voted Greens for quite a few elections now, at both state & federal levels. Though my heart has traditionally been with Labor. I've simply preferred the Greens policies on issues that are important to me. How influential the Greens will be in the senate after this coming election, we'll see. I'm hoping much more so. I'm also hoping to see the last of Family First. I like the idea of the Greens holding the balance of power (as opposed to the likes of FF.
) & I'm hoping Julia Gillard pays considerably more attention to them. That's where many defecting lefties from the ALP have gone, in sheer frustration, after-all. Interestingly, we may (in Victoria, where I live) have our first Greens house of reps parliamentarian after this election. In Lindsay Tanner's seat. It was always going to be close, but with Tanner's retirement I think the Greens have a real chance there.
Quote:But I am super-impressed with Gillard. I think she is going to be around for a very long time, I am hoping she will be the best Labor PM since Hawke. I think she has it in her.
I have been pretty impressed by her performance since becoming leader, too. But the critical issues (for me, anyway) will be her positions on climate change, asylum seekers & the "mining tax". (more on that in my following post.) However, as a teacher, I & many others, have been severely disappointed by her as minister for education. The so-called "education revolution" has been a disaster for government schools. I'm hoping that Simon Crean (as the new education minister) will seek out advisers who actually have the
interests of government schools at heart, for a change. Our schools are in a sorry state (funding & policy-wise) after years of poor representation from various governments, particularly Howard's Liberals. I think the Labor Party has relegated government schools into the "too hard" category, in response to powerful, self-interested "pro-choice" lobbyists.
