My headline here is of course far from accurate. That is because the real issue for voters on September 7 is not one man versus another man, but one political party versus another political party. It is really about one ideology versus another. But I have already spoken about the broader ideological battle elsewhere: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2013/08/07/on-revolution-and-competing-worldviews/
Regrettably we have allowed Rudd and his populist campaign style to mislead us into thinking we are voting in a US-style election for a president. But we are actually voting in or out a major political party. Yet Rudd knows that the Labor brand is so utterly tarnished and trashed that he is deliberately avoiding even talking about Labor, and is simply talking about himself instead – incessantly.
So he has made this election focus very much about himself – and his own ego. But in reality it is about him and Labor versus another party, another leader, and another political ideology. So concentrating too much on the two party leaders is going to give us a very distorted picture here.
And even if we do give the two leaders our main attention, things can be summed up pretty quickly: Abbott is of course not ideal in every respect, but he far outshines Rudd. He has shown himself to be very much a leader, while Rudd simply goes where the wind blows, changing his tune to simply get some votes.
He very much appears to be a man utterly obsessed with himself, with power, and with winning. And he is quite happy to do whatever it takes to win office and keep it. So it does not matter in the least that he will do a photo op every Sunday coming out of church, while telling us all along he has no intention of promoting any teachings which any true church would uphold.
So on Sunday morning in true hypocrite fashion again, he waltzed out of church and smiled at the cameras. Then in the evening he told the entire nation that his number one priority if re-elected will be to utterly and completely destroy the institution of marriage by redefining it out of existence to placate a few homosexual militants.
Way to go Kev. Love that consistent biblical worldview oozing out of your every pore. But regrettably this is not just the Machiavellian Kevin at work here. Homosexual marriage is of course official Labor Party policy. And as I keep saying, it is the Labor/Green policies versus the Liberal/National policies that really matter here – not just personalities.
Thus we have one major party fully backing homosexual marriage while the other does not. On that issue alone we should have a clear winner as to who to vote for. But there is much more as well. Take another crucial and fundamental policy issue: that of abortion.
Once again, this is official party policy for Labor, while abortion on demand is not Liberal policy. To have as a core plank of your party the slaughter of unborn babies is a very profound and very vital difference. This issue as well, as with the marriage issue, should really be all we need to know about Labor. It should put us all off from voting for them – certainly if we claim to be biblical Christians.
But even though this is really an election about different parties with differing policies and philosophies, it is legitimate in one sense to focus on leaders. For example, if one leader is found to keep changing his tune to improve his electoral chances, then you know we have to stand up and take notice.
Last night Rudd was putting his big priority on homosexual marriage. Yet just a few months ago (May 20 to be exact), he said this: “For the record, I will not be taking any leadership role on this issue nationally”. OK, just another broken promise. Just another complete reversal. Just like Julia and her carbon tax.
We have seen one lie, back flip, broken promise, and turn around on policy after another from both Kevin and Labor. The issue really becomes one of trust. Can we really trust this man? Indeed, he helped to formulate the debating rules for last Sunday’s debate. Yet he blatantly broke them and cheated, using notes when he said he would not.
The next day he tried to joke about this and pretend it was no big deal. If we can’t even trust him to keep his word when it comes to debate rules, how in the world are we going to trust him to keep his word as he runs this country? When fundamental honesty and transparency seem to mean nothing to a politician, then we had all better be very cautious indeed.
And his character involves more than just a steady record of broken promises. His unbearable ego, his fits of rage, his desire to be a control freak, his inability to work with others – all that should tell us this guy is not worthy of our vote. He is certainly not fit to run a nation. But I have elsewhere discussed at length how so many of his colleagues have fled from the guy and want nothing to do with him: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2013/08/05/say-no-to-rudd-and-labor/
As I say, Abbott and the Coalition are far from perfect. I have many concerns about them. And if they do get in we will not see paradise restored. But we will see a stop – if even a temporary stop – to the disaster which has been Labor (be it under Julia or Kevin) for the past six years.
Kevin keeps talking about the need for something new. I sure agree with him on that. We need a new government with a new leader. We certainly do not need the same old same old.
The minor parties
Just a few quick words about the minor parties. There are dozens of them, but only a handful will be of interest to most of my readers. The faith based and pro-family parties are well worth our vote, providing of course they do not preference to Labor or the Greens.
So these parties can certainly be supported: The Christian Democratic Party; Australian Christians (the CDP outside of NSW); Family First; the Democratic Labor Party; and Rise Up Australia. But the truth is, of the dozens or even hundreds of candidates running for these various parties, only one or two at best might get in.
This can come in handy, as when the balance of power in the Senate is at stake. But the sad truth is, there are only two real players in town. That is the reality we must face here. Either Labor gets back in, or the Coalition does. So while parties like the CDP, etc, will most closely reflect Christian values (and see our soon to appear Christian Values Checklist), it will be Labor or Liberal to call the shots after September 7.
It would be nice if the smaller parties had more impact, but at the moment their impact is negligible. Yes Steve Fielding of FF had some impact in the Senate, but he was a bit of a mixed bag. John Madigan of the DLP will also have some influence.
But right now it is the two big parties who will determine our future. Other parties can be given the flick, such as Bob Katter’s Australian Party. He has already caved in on homosexual marriage, and is talking about giving his preferences to Labor! Go figure.
So above all, this is a heavyweight match between Labor and Liberal. The important thing is to get Labor out. As I say, the Coalition will not bring heaven to earth, but they will at least stop the rot for a while. That is perhaps the best we can expect in a fallen world.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/secret-preference-deal-expected-to-be-announced-which-would-see-bob-katter8217s-australian-party-preferences-flow-to-alp/story-fnihsr9v-1226695607928
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