So, Tell Us What We Really Think

"It doesn't matter what the topic is. 'What kind of weather are we going to have today?' 'It's going to be cloudy because Kevin Rudd is going to bring the storms of economic ruin.' He will find an analogy, a metaphor and attach it to Kevin Rudd that's really harsh. "America has a reputation for having a knock-down, drag-out negative electoral system. But it doesn't hold a candle to Australia. You guys are so much more blunt, so much more in-your-face." To hear a US pollster from the conservative side of the tracks describe Howard as Nixonian in his methods, and the Australian political system as more aggressive than America's, comes as a shock at first. Surely GeorgeW. Bush, president of the most violent society in the first world if the measure is gun-related homicide, would claim the title of sledger-in-chief ahead of Howard? But Luntz, who has polled Western democracies from the US to Britain and Ireland via France and Germany, believes Howard is in a league of his own. Part of the explanation is our parliamentary system, which compels our political leaders to engage in daily combat. "We don't have that in America. The president and the Opposition leader never debate, except three times every four years (in the presidential debates). So you don't have that prioritisation on communication. World leaders are better communicators in many cases than in America. "This president (GeorgeW. Bush) is not a good communicator, his father (George Bush Sr) wasn't a good communicator. Ronald Reagan was and Bill Clinton was, but they didn't necessarily win because they were such great communicators versus the opposition. Here in Australia I think politics is just more direct and unfiltered." Read about The Australian/Sky News Voters' Verdict special http://media.theaustralian.com.au/projects/voters/voter.html http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au:80/story/0,25197,22317657-28737,00.html

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