Defeat for Progressive Thought

Janet Albrechtsen, as usual, misses many points. It's not surprising in the least.

Whilst it's looking more and more likely that we'll see a Rudd victory this year, the numbers won't be coming from generation-Y. It'll be from their parents.

So Janet should be happy. Rudd is a victory for conservatism, much to my chagrin. Whoever wins, Janet wins.
I think it's a terrible day when people start raving about our opposition because of how he resembles our incumbent in so many ways.

It's fine for the Anyone But Howard camp, and I agree that a change is desirable. I hardly think, however, that it's worth celebrating when policy and ideology will essentially remain unchanged.

Just as Martin Amis remarked of England, we're witnessing the death of politics in Australia. There is no longer a debate over larger issues such as the distribution of wealth.

You don't get balance by shifting Labour to the right; all that results is an ever more conservative state of politics. It happened in England; my recent post points to the effects of such a swing.

A further freezing-over of politics in Australia has resulted from environmental issues going mainstream. This has stripped the Green party of its relevance.

Whilst I can envisage myself giving preference to Rudd over Howard, it won't be an entirely happy decision; it's conceding defeat to conservatism, and it's a sign of a flat-lining democracy.