shiftygiant
Gone Fishin'
One is a Liberal with Conservative leanings, and the other is a Conservative with Liberal leanings- it's all about what is the underlying philosophy.
Alternate Wikipedia Infoboxes IV (Do not post Current Politics Here)
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Are there more or less UFOs? Is it basically the History Channel's Ancient Aliens on repeat 24/7?
There is ancient aliens. And lots of weird stuff. Remember - every punk has its day, but no punk truly dies. This world has legacies from fantasypunk and whatnot.
Matthew Gauvin, the Hellyer analogue, was abducted by aliens and went a bit kooky in the process. He was once "the Liberals' wunderkind", but then he had a crazed political career defecting to the NPL, then the SDP, then back to the Lib Dems, before becoming an independent and then a Tory. In 1996, he set up Action. Even today, it's the party of conspiracy theorists, as well as more respectable classical liberals.
Yes, I don't think I worded it quite right, what I meant to ask TB was if there was some sort of 'divide' in the party between those two different strands.
Oh sure. The liberal conservatives are those who want the party to be a respectable party of moderate people. The conservative liberals are those who want the party to be a moderate party of respectable people.
More serious now: The conservative-liberal people are those who can't stand Action's conspiracy theories and the Lib Dems' social-liberalism.
A quick infobox for the election that brought Weisberger to power.
And yes, the Namadan flag is green.
And yes, the Namadan flag is green.
Prime Ministers of Namada (WIP)
Charlie Mori (Progressive Conservative minority) 19??-1978
1974: def. Derek Hatfield (Liberal), J. B. Carabin (Non-Partisan League), Brad MacKenzie (Social Democratic)
Brad MacKenzie (SDP-Liberal Alliance majority, then Liberal Democratic majority) 1978-1984
1978: def. Charlie Mori (Progressive Conservative), Rob Koizumi (Non-Partisan League)
1980: def. Charlie Mori (Progressive Conservative), Rob Koizumi (Non-Partisan League)
Kathleen Weisberger (Progressive Conservative majority) 1984-1991
1984: def. Brad MacKenzie (Liberal Democratic), Rob Koizumi (Non-Partisan League)
1988: def. Brad MacKenzie (Liberal Democratic), Rob Koizumi (Non-Partisan League)
Darren Wayne (Progressive Conservative majority) 1991-1992
Justine Chang (Liberal Democratic majority, then minority) 1992-1999
1992: def. Darren Wayne (Progressive Conservative), Daniel Lam (Eastern Namada Concept), Audrey Poudrier (Non-Partisan League), Brad Young (Reform)
1995: def. Andrew Scott (Progressive Conservative), Daniel Lam (Eastern Namada Concept), Brad Young (Reform), Suzanne Tremblay (Non-Partisan League)
1998: def. Rhéal Nielsen (Progressive Conservative), Daniel Lam (Eastern Namada Concept), Suzanne Tremblay (Non-Partisan League), Matthew Gauvin (Action), Brad Young (Reform)
Stephen Lyons (Liberal Democratic minority) 1999-2001
Rhéal Nielsen (Progressive Conservative minority) 2001-2007
2001: def. Stephen Lyons (Liberal Democratic), Robert Kaieda (Eastern Namada Concept), Lorne Wong (Non-Partisan League), Matthew Gauvin (Action)
2004: def. Lorne Wong (Non-Partisan League), Robert Kaieda (Eastern Namada Concept), Charlotte Ball (Liberal Democratic), Matthew Gauvin (Action)
Lorne Wong (Non-Partisan League minority) 2007-2011
2007: def. Rhéal Nielsen (Progressive Conservative), Raymond Cloutier (Liberal Democratic), Robert Kaieda (Eastern Namada Concept), Matthew Gauvin (Action)
Dwight Beatty (Non-Partisan League minority, then majority) 2011-2014
2011: def. Gordon Clark (Progressive Conservative), Jérémie Gaumond (Liberal Democratic), Stephanie Cho (Action), Martin Yeung (Eastern Namada Concept), Darcy O'Neill (Progressive-Green)
Amélie Langevin (Non-Partisan League majority) 2014-2016
Doug MacKenzie (Liberal Democratic majority) 2016-20??
2016: def. Félix Boudinot (Progressive Conservative), Amélie Langevin (Non-Partisan League), Stephanie Cho (Action), Martin Yeung (Eastern Namada Concept), Darcy O'Neill (Progressive-Green)
Charlie Mori (Progressive Conservative minority) 19??-1978
1974: def. Derek Hatfield (Liberal), J. B. Carabin (Non-Partisan League), Brad MacKenzie (Social Democratic)
Brad MacKenzie (SDP-Liberal Alliance majority, then Liberal Democratic majority) 1978-1984
1978: def. Charlie Mori (Progressive Conservative), Rob Koizumi (Non-Partisan League)
1980: def. Charlie Mori (Progressive Conservative), Rob Koizumi (Non-Partisan League)
Kathleen Weisberger (Progressive Conservative majority) 1984-1991
1984: def. Brad MacKenzie (Liberal Democratic), Rob Koizumi (Non-Partisan League)
1988: def. Brad MacKenzie (Liberal Democratic), Rob Koizumi (Non-Partisan League)
Darren Wayne (Progressive Conservative majority) 1991-1992
Justine Chang (Liberal Democratic majority, then minority) 1992-1999
1992: def. Darren Wayne (Progressive Conservative), Daniel Lam (Eastern Namada Concept), Audrey Poudrier (Non-Partisan League), Brad Young (Reform)
1995: def. Andrew Scott (Progressive Conservative), Daniel Lam (Eastern Namada Concept), Brad Young (Reform), Suzanne Tremblay (Non-Partisan League)
1998: def. Rhéal Nielsen (Progressive Conservative), Daniel Lam (Eastern Namada Concept), Suzanne Tremblay (Non-Partisan League), Matthew Gauvin (Action), Brad Young (Reform)
Stephen Lyons (Liberal Democratic minority) 1999-2001
Rhéal Nielsen (Progressive Conservative minority) 2001-2007
2001: def. Stephen Lyons (Liberal Democratic), Robert Kaieda (Eastern Namada Concept), Lorne Wong (Non-Partisan League), Matthew Gauvin (Action)
2004: def. Lorne Wong (Non-Partisan League), Robert Kaieda (Eastern Namada Concept), Charlotte Ball (Liberal Democratic), Matthew Gauvin (Action)
Lorne Wong (Non-Partisan League minority) 2007-2011
2007: def. Rhéal Nielsen (Progressive Conservative), Raymond Cloutier (Liberal Democratic), Robert Kaieda (Eastern Namada Concept), Matthew Gauvin (Action)
Dwight Beatty (Non-Partisan League minority, then majority) 2011-2014
2011: def. Gordon Clark (Progressive Conservative), Jérémie Gaumond (Liberal Democratic), Stephanie Cho (Action), Martin Yeung (Eastern Namada Concept), Darcy O'Neill (Progressive-Green)
Amélie Langevin (Non-Partisan League majority) 2014-2016
Doug MacKenzie (Liberal Democratic majority) 2016-20??
2016: def. Félix Boudinot (Progressive Conservative), Amélie Langevin (Non-Partisan League), Stephanie Cho (Action), Martin Yeung (Eastern Namada Concept), Darcy O'Neill (Progressive-Green)
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shiftygiant
Gone Fishin'
The Strange Death of Liberal Canada, eh?Red Sky at Night, Brian's Delight...
This box came about as a result of a conversation with a Canadian Conservative friend who was lamenting about how the Progressive Conservatives went from a landslide victory in '84 to a near wipeout in '93. This got me thinking as to what a similarly awful result for the Liberals would have looked like; worse than even OTL 1984 or 2011. The general idea here is that Turner's election campaign is even worse than OTL, with more gaffes on top of his 'Make Works Programs', 'Bottomgate' and performing even worse in the debate after Mulroney's famous 'You had an option, sir' quip. There is a minor PoD here, which is that the Socreds manage to cling on for dear life in in the Beauce riding of its leader Fabien Roy, thus ensuring he remains as leader, the anti-Semite loons don't get loosed on the party and thus ensuring that a slight chunk of the Liberal vote is removed in Quebec. The 'methodology' for lack of a better word is simply that those Liberal ridings where a moderate to decent swing could knock out the MP occurs, this had the product of having the NDP gain around two seats, while the Tories picked up all the other Liberal losses - to make it seem less one-sided, I gave the NDP several of the seats (though not Yukon) that they won from the PCs in 1988. In terms of Quebec I had the Socred vote remain more or less static from 1980 - then I factored in various swings from the Liberals to the Tories, and gave the Socreds a minor gain - which enabled them to win a handful of seats besides Beauce. Of course one of the most notable scalps of the night with these conditions would have been the PM and Liberal leader himself, John Turner, who decided to buck the norm and fight an opposition held seat (as opposed to having an MP resign a safe seat so as to enable the party leader, if they are not an MP, to become one in a by-election) in an attempt to gain the Liberals more of a voice in the west of the country. Unlike OTL this gamble fails to pay off - and if my calculations weren't too wrong, the most westerly Liberal MP is in Ontario, IIRC.
Come to think of it, that is a much better name than the one I went for.
Once upon a time I wrote a TL called Gilded Dreams that very few people read. But I made a wikibox for a war in it anyway
The name of the chapter was La República de Chile and the No Good Very Bad Year.
The name of the chapter was La República de Chile and the No Good Very Bad Year.
What have you done? Why are neither Cleveland or Cinci in Ohio? What is the blue blob in Lake Erie?
I created wikiboxes for the U.S. presidential elections in A Giant Sucking Sound: a President Perot TL by @MaskedPickle. The POD is Ross Perot not ending his 1992 presidential campaign, and selecting former California Governor Jerry Brown as his running mate. Perot is elected President of the United States, leading to dramatic changes at home and abroad...
Presidents of the United States
1989-1993: George Bush / Dan Quayle (Republican) [1]
1988: Michael Dukakis / Lloyd Bentsen (Democratic)
1993-1997: Ross Perot / Jerry Brown (Independent/Freedom) [2]
1992: Bill Clinton / Al Gore (Democratic), George Bush / Dan Quayle (Republican)
1997-2003: Ann Richards / Bob Kerrey (Democratic) [3]
1996: Ross Perot / David Boren (Freedom), Carroll Campbell / Jim Edgar (Republican)
2000: Jeb Bush / John Kasich (Republican), Angus King / Arlen Specter (Freedom), Pat Buchanan / Alan Keyes (Constitution), Jerry Brown / Bernie Sanders (Green)
2003-2005: Bob Kerrey / Bob Graham (Democratic) [4]
2005-2007: Donald Trump / Hill Harper (Freedom) [5]
2004: Bob Graham / Patty Murray (Democratic), Clarence Thomas / Richard Lugar (Republican)
2007-2009: Nancy Pelosi / Tom Vilsack (Democratic) [6]
2009-2013: Russ Feingold / Kathleen Sebelius (Democratic) [7]
2008: Mike Huckabee / John Thune (Republican), Ralph Nader / Jesse Ventura (Freedom)
2013-present: Jeb Bush / J. C. Watts (Republican) [8]
2012: Russ Feingold / Kathleen Sebelius (Democratic), Jesse Ventura / Buddy Roemer (Freedom)
[1] George Bush’s presidency was the same as in OTL, except he lost to Ross Perot instead of Bill Clinton. He was assassinated a few months after leaving office: while visiting Kuwait for a ceremony honoring the anniversary of the end of the Persian Gulf War, he was murdered by agents of the Iraqi security services (this was attempted in OTL). This led to a U.S. intervention in Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein.
[2] Ross Perot’s presidency had mixed results. His accomplishments included establishing the Freedom Party, dismantling NAFTA, adding a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution, enacting campaign finance reform and anti-lobbying legislation, accelerating the development of the Internet, intervening to stop the Rwandan Genocide, deposing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq, and preventing the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis from escalating into a war between China and Taiwan. However, he was forced to deal with a wave of terrorism across the world, including right-wing domestic terrorism by Stormfront (an alliance of white supremacists and the militia movement), Algerian Islamic terrorists crashing a hijacked airliner into the Eiffel Tower (leading to a European Union military intervention in Algeria), and Aum Shinrikyo detonating a stolen Russian nuclear warhead in Nagoya, Japan, killing 2 million people. Ultranationalists rose to power in Russia, with Vladimir Zhirinovsky getting elected president in 1996. Perot also did not get along with Vice President Jerry Brown and dropped him from the Freedom Party ticket in 1996. His paranoia intensified in the wake of continuous terrorist attacks, including an unsuccessful attempt on his life by Stormfront. His reputation also suffered greatly when he and his administration were accused of taking bribes from Chinese businessmen in the “Chinagate” scandal. Perot ultimately had a public meltdown during the third presidential debate and stormed off stage, effectively giving up on his reelection campaign and the presidency. Despite the mixed results of his tenure, Ross Perot is considered one of most consequential presidents in United States history, and his presidency is considered the unofficial beginning of the 21st century, for better or worse.
[3] Ann Richards became the Democratic presidential nominee in 1996 after Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone, the presumptive nominee, was assassinated by Stormfront; Richards was the runner-up in the primaries. She went on to become the first female President of the United States. She dealt with her liberal agenda being obstructed by a Republican-Freedomite coalition in Congress, as well as continued terrorism from Stormfront. She cracked down on Stormfront, passing draconian anti-terrorism legislation and presiding over the capture, trial, and execution of Stromfront’s leaders. Tensions on the international stage were no better, with Iraq descending into civil war, Russia under President Zhirinovsky pursuing a belligerent foreign policy, and the EU bogged down in a War on Terror against Islamic terrorists. In 2000 Richards’ prospects for reelection were in jeopardy due to backlash against her policies and governance. The Asia-Pacific attacks in October 2000, carried out by al-Qaeda, caused a rally-round-the-flag effect that allowed Richards to be reelected. She focused her second term on combating the Taliban and Islamic terrorism, which led to Osama bin Laden being killed in Tora Bora in 2002. Richards and Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke also prevented a war between India and Pakistan from going nuclear. The Middle East meanwhile spiraled out of control, while Vladimir Zhirinovsky oppressed Russian Muslims and the EU militarily intervened in Serbia to topple Slobodan Milošević. Richards died in office in 2003 from lung cancer, a consequence of her escalated smoking habit due to the stresses of her presidency.
[4] Vice President Bob Kerrey succeeded the late Ann Richards in the White House. He selected Senate Majority Leader Bob Graham to serve as his VP. Kerrey declined to run for election in 2004 after his alleged war crimes during the Thanh Phong raid in the Vietnam War were exposed to the public. His presidency coincided with the Arab Spring (which occurred earlier than in OTL, and with different effects, such as Saudi Arabia collapsing into civil war) and a global economic meltdown in 2004. Kerrey spent his short presidency continuing America’s fight against Islamic terrorists, including a military intervention in the Philippines. The U.S. also ratified the Kyoto Protocol under Kerrey’s watch.
[5] Donald Trump, billionaire businessman and former Governor of New York, united the Freedom Party behind him as he won a contested election that had to be decided by Congress. As president he embraced economic protectionism and expanded domestic energy production. He launched a U.S. invasion of Cuba after Fidel Castro’s death, followed by a U.S. invasion of North Korea after it tested a nuclear bomb; both wars were very controversial. He established a mutual defense pact between the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Quebec (which gained independence in 1995). Trump also presided over the return of American astronauts to the Moon. The globe remained chaotic: Russia invaded eastern Ukraine, the Muslim world remained torn by conflict and civil unrest, an Indian Pope was elected, and the European Union adopted a constitution (which led to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU). Trump eventually went insane, threatening to start a nuclear war with Russia, which was only averted when Vice President Hill Harper resigned and convinced the U.S. military to remove Trump from office in a coup.
[6] Nancy Pelosi, as Speaker of the House, was next in the line of succession after Trump’s removal from office, since Vice President Harper had resigned (to avoid being accused of ousting Trump to seize power for himself). She served as a caretaker president and declined to seek election in 2008. The world calmed down somewhat; Vladimir Zhirinovsky was ousted from power in Russia.
[7] Russ Feingold, the first Jewish U.S. President, presided over an “American Glasnost,” which saw the dismantling of draconian anti-terrorist laws and surveillance measures; investigations of military and intelligence operations from the previous presidential administrations; and a renewed commitment to civil liberties. He also instituted universal healthcare in the United States and presided over renewed unionization. The world further calmed down: the United Kingdom rejoined the EU, a joint recognition treaty between Israel and Palestine was instituted, and Russia, now ruled by Alexander Lebed, was less authoritarian than under the Zhirinovsky years. Despite Feingold’s accomplishments, he was defeated for reelection in 2012.
[8] Jeb Bush was the first Republican president since his father twenty years earlier. He campaigned on a “return to normalcy,” a message that resonated with many Americans after two decades of political, economic, and social upheaval at home and abroad. Voter fatigue with Democratic and Freedomite presidents also helped him achieve victory.
The timeline did not include the popular vote totals or the turnout for U.S. elections, so I made some guesses as to what they would be. I assumed turnout would generally be higher than in OTL due to having a viable third party to vote for.
The 2000 election map was missing in the timeline, so I made an educated guess as to which states were won by each candidate based on the electoral vote totals, the political allegiances of the states in this TL, and some hints from the text. I included Pat Buchanan and Jerry Brown in the wikibox (even though they each received less than 5% of the popular vote) because they were included in TTL’s presidential debates.
For the 2004 election, the popular vote percentages were missing in the timeline, so I made some educated guesses. I assumed it was a close election, but that Trump would probably win the popular vote against Graham and Thomas because of his media-savvy. I also made a guess regarding the map for the House contingent election (which would have occurred after the new Congress convened in January 2005). Since the Freedom Party did not have a majority, I assumed that some Democrats and Republicans in the House voted to elect Trump as part of some tripartisan deal.
For the 2008 election, all we know from the timeline is that Russ Feingold was elected. It may have been hinted that Mike Huckabee ran in the GOP primaries as well, so I made him the GOP nominee. Ralph Nader seemed like a good candidate for the Freedomites to nominate in 2008 given his anti-establishment nature and lack of ties to the Trump administration (and of course he ran for POTUS multiple times in OTL on third-party tickets). I assumed the Freedomites would suffer a shellacking in 2008 due to Trump’s controversial presidency.
For the 2012 election, all we know from the timeline is that Jeb Bush was elected, defeating the incumbent Russ Feingold. I figured that Jesse Ventura would be an appropriate Freedomite candidate. Ventura’s running mate Buddy Roemer would probably join the Freedom Party in this TL; I imagined him being elected Governor of Louisiana in 2007, winning by distancing himself from Trump and because I assumed the incumbent David Vitter (elected in 2003) would probably have a sex scandal like in OTL.
I believe that in this TL, there would be increased support in the United States for the abolition of the Electoral College. Both Democrats and Republicans got screwed out of the presidency (in 1992 and 2000, respectively) because of the EC, and one election (2004) had to be decided by Congress because no candidate won a majority of electoral votes. The U.S. Constitution would probably be amended to abolish the Electoral College and institute direct popular vote for the presidency. Due to having a three-party system, I imagine there would also be increased support for alternatives to first-past-the-post voting, such as ranked-choice voting or a runoff system, which would be more appropriate for a multi-party system.
>President Trump
He Knew
"Non-Offensive Centrism"
You managed to explain En Marche perfectly. In 2015
"Adult Politics"
This sounds like trying to explain a sex scandal to your kid who's really into politics.
A quick infobox for the election that brought Weisberger to power.
View attachment 333192
And yes, the Namadan flag is green.
Prime Ministers of Namada (WIP)
Charlie Mori (Progressive Conservative minority) 19??-1978
1974: def. Derek Hatfield (Liberal), J. B. Carabin (Non-Partisan League), Brad MacKenzie (Social Democratic)
Brad MacKenzie (SDP-Liberal Alliance majority, then Liberal Democratic majority) 1978-1984
1978: def. Charlie Mori (Progressive Conservative), Rob Koizumi (Non-Partisan League)
1980: def. Charlie Mori (Progressive Conservative), Rob Koizumi (Non-Partisan League)
Kathleen Weisberger (Progressive Conservative majority) 1984-1991
1984: def. Brad MacKenzie (Liberal Democratic), Rob Koizumi (Non-Partisan League)
1988: def. Brad MacKenzie (Liberal Democratic), Rob Koizumi (Non-Partisan League)
Darren Wayne (Progressive Conservative majority) 1991-1992
Justine Chang (Liberal Democratic majority, then minority) 1992-1999
1992: def. Darren Wayne (Progressive Conservative), Daniel Lam (Eastern Namada Concept), Audrey Poudrier (Non-Partisan League), Brad Young (Reform)
1995: def. Andrew Scott (Progressive Conservative), Daniel Lam (Eastern Namada Concept), Brad Young (Reform), Suzanne Tremblay (Non-Partisan League)
1998: def. Rhéal Nielsen (Progressive Conservative), Daniel Lam (Eastern Namada Concept), Suzanne Tremblay (Non-Partisan League), Matthew Gauvin (Action), Brad Young (Reform)
Stephen Lyons (Liberal Democratic minority) 1999-2001
Rhéal Nielsen (Progressive Conservative minority) 2001-2007
2001: def. Stephen Lyons (Liberal Democratic), Robert Kaieda (Eastern Namada Concept), Lorne Wong (Non-Partisan League), Matthew Gauvin (Action)
2004: def. Lorne Wong (Non-Partisan League), Robert Kaieda (Eastern Namada Concept), Charlotte Ball (Liberal Democratic), Matthew Gauvin (Action)
Lorne Wong (Non-Partisan League minority) 2007-2011
2007: def. Rhéal Nielsen (Progressive Conservative), Raymond Cloutier (Liberal Democratic), Robert Kaieda (Eastern Namada Concept), Matthew Gauvin (Action)
Dwight Beatty (Non-Partisan League minority, then majority) 2011-2014
2011: def. Gordon Clark (Progressive Conservative), Jérémie Gaumond (Liberal Democratic), Stephanie Cho (Action), Martin Yeung (Eastern Namada Concept), Darcy O'Neill (Progressive-Green)
Amélie Langevin (Non-Partisan League majority) 2014-2016
Doug MacKenzie (Liberal Democratic majority) 2016-20??
2016: def. Félix Boudinot (Progressive Conservative), Amélie Langevin (Non-Partisan League), Stephanie Cho (Action), Martin Yeung (Eastern Namada Concept), Darcy O'Neill (Progressive-Green)
>Non-Partisan League
>Eastern Namada Concept
I approve.
How did Chile cede the Litoral Department (Antofagasta) to both the US and Bolivia?
The 2010 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 13 February, following the granting of a double dissolution on 8 January by the Governor-General Quentin Bryce. Consequently, all 150 seats in the House of Representatives as well as all 76 seats in the Senate were up for election to the 43rd Parliament of Australia. It was the first double dissolution election since the 1987 election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, defeated the opposition Liberal Party of Australia, led by Tony Abbott and the National Party of Australia led by Warren Truss.
(**POD**) Following the success in securing a binding global agreement on climate change at Copenhagen, Rudd made the decision to implement an emissions trading scheme (ETS), sparking an advantageous rise in his popularity. According to Newspoll, the government gained nearly a million voters in a fortnight. The shift in Rudd's personal fortunes reduced concerns amongst some members of caucus about his leadership, and any discussions regarding the same dissipated immediately.
There was soon heightened speculation that Rudd might call an early election considering that the Senate's second rejection of the government's climate change legislation on 2 December 2009 provided the government with grounds to dissolve both Houses and call an early election if it so wished. Rudd soon confirmed such speculation, announcing the early election on 8 January 2010 by stating that it was his "strong and continuing resolve to serve the people, and the best way that we can do so is to give them their voice".
Rudd's election announcement on 8 January gave parties and candidates a five-week campaign period before polling day on 13 February. Candidates immediately embarked on a flurry of activity, but the major parties did not officially launch their campaigns until several weeks later. Abbott launched the Liberal Party's campaign at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane on 31 January. Rudd launched Labor's campaign a week later on 8 February.
Nevertheless, Rudd was in full campaign mode from the 8 January announcement. At the start of the campaign, Newspoll revealed an extremely positive disposition towards Rudd, with 60 per cent preferring him as prime minister as against 23 per cent for Tony Abbott, and Labor leading the Coalition 56 to 44 per cent on a two-party preferred basis. The same poll showed a closer gap after the first week of campaigning, with Labor at 54 per cent to the Coalition's 46 per cent on a two-party-preferred vote possibly due in part to voters turning against Rudd's introduction of the campaign slogan "Standing Up for Australia" during his election announcement — a slogan that attracted ridicule for seeming to be patronising. The media rebuked Rudd for using the phrase "standing up" 24 times in five minutes, forcing Labor's campaign strategists to spend time defending the slogan.
The Labor campaign tried to capitalise on the Labor Government's successful handling of the GFC but this was undermined by accusations of project mismanagement, rorts and waste, especially around the home insulation and school building programs. Yet, with a public perception growing that Rudd was an increasingly familiar quantity, and that his engagement with the electorate was nonetheless having a positive effect on the campaign, the party opted for minimal change in campaign tactics. Polling showed that voters had turned against the Coalition, with the two-party-preferred vote showing Labor at an average 56 per cent and the Coalition at an average 44 per cent. By the time Rudd officially launched the Labor campaign on 8 February, the campaign had canvassed key issues such as: the implementation of the emissions trading scheme, the roll-out of the National Broadband Network (NBN) which promised high-speed internet coverage across Australia and greater access for those in regional and rural Australia, education policies emphasising individual improvements of schools, and enhanced welfare arrangements including a National Disability Strategy.
At his campaign launch, Rudd sought to display the positives of Labor government by conveying his links with former significant prime ministers. He was introduced by Bob Hawke, and he formally acknowledged the legacies of Whitlam and Keating. He even conspicuously described Julia Gillard as "a woman of great achievement, not only in the past, but in the present, and in the future". The speech highlighted his values, his family and upbringing, and emphasised Labor policies — particularly education policies. By listing various policies associated with his previous prime ministerial performance Rudd emphasised a record of sound administration. Rudd closed with a reference to Ben Chifley's "light on the hill". Thus Rudd presented himself as a true successor to past Labor prime ministers and re-introduced himself to the electorate in terms of being one of the many "hard-working" Australians seeking a "fair go". The results of the ACNeilsen poll on 9 February suggested that people had reacted well to Rudd's approach with Labor at 57 per cent of the two-party-preferred vote; Newspoll told a similar story, showing Labor at 56 per cent of the two-party-preferred and the Coalition at 44 per cent.
Labor had a decisive win in the House of Representatives, with a two-party preferred vote of 55.91% to the Coalition's 44.09% — a two-party swing of 3.21% in Labor's favor. The Coalition's primary vote fell to 33.94%, its lowest in over six-and-a-half decades. Independents Bob Katter, Rob Oakeshott, and Tony Windsor were all re-elected with increased majorities. Labor won 101 seats, the Coalition 45 seats, with the remainder going to the independents (3) and the National Party of Western Australia (1). The Senate proved to be an interesting contest, with Labor winning 34 seats, the Coalition 30 seats, the Greens ten seats, the Democratic Labor Party one seat, and independent Nick Xenophon being re-elected. Voter turnout in the House of Representatives was 93.21% (down from 94.76% in 2007) and 93.82% in the Senate (down from 95.17% in 2007). It was perhaps surprising, given the size of many Senate ballot papers, that the rate of informal voting in the Senate was lower than the informal vote in the House of Representatives. The informal vote in the House of Representatives was 5.55% and 3.75% in the Senate, compared to the 2007 informal vote of 3.95% and 2.55% respectively. Over 2.5 million Australians voted early (pre-poll or postal) for the 2010 federal election, compared to around 2 million in 2007, and over 950,000 postal vote applications were received for the 2013 federal election, compared to just over 863,000 in 2007.
wikipipes
Banned
I like Kevin Rudd, extremely intelligent and Isn't full of himself. That witch Gillard stole the torch and ran with it, and thereafter reaped what she sowed.
its beautiful. Also should keep the faceless men at bay and keep Labor on the right track.
Also what was the fate of one Tony Abbott after this election may i ask. did he
1. Manage to retain his seat of Manly
2. Did he resign/lose the leadership of the Libs.
- Status