ALP In Spin Cycle Day 3

OMG Kev Is Still A Rock Star!

The newspaper headlines this morning were blaring out something that everybody knows. Kevin Rudd would trounce Tony Abbott. Polls also indicate people prefer Kevin Rudd to Julia Gillard by a big margin. This much we suspected, and now we knew as of this morning's reporting. Julia Gillard said this isn't supposed to be like 'Celebrity Survivor', but neither is it supposed to be like the US Presidential election, nor is it meant to determine the future of Australia; well, maybe the last bit is true.

Slowly the idea seems to be cottoning on out there that if you put the past in brackets and not worry about the argy-bargy of today, what Monday's spill is going to bring is the long term future outlook of the ALP - and lo and behold Anthony Albanese has declared he'll pitch in behind Kevin Rudd. It wasn't expected, but it was greatly welcomed by the Rudd camp. The point to be drawn from Albanese making his decision was that he probably got an ear full from his constituency that it had to be Rudd or else.

Or else what? They only had to point at the rabid Mr. Rabbit.

It's pretty sobering for us punters as is; imagine what that's like for a dyed-in-the-wool ALP man like Albanese? Who knows? Maybe Carmel Tebbutt had something to say after her near-loss of her seat at the last state election. The electorate were out to smash the ALP, and most of that public anger could be sheeted home to the incredibly unpopular, un-embrace-able, eminently dislike-able, thoroughly-contemptible Kristina "The Haircut' Kenneally. Yes, Ms. Tebbutt probably had plenty of scars to show for the last campaign she went through, she must have said "ferfuxake Albo, bring back Kevin and be done with it!"

I don't know. I'm just guessing. But how hard could it be to pick the leader? There are only 2 horses in the race; one very popular and one very unpopular. Urm... Ahh.... "Bueller!? Bueller?!"

A lot of people are telling me that they want Kevin back, and that they don't really care if he yells at hosties or cabinet ministers; swears like a sailor in between takes for a video; goes to strip clubs; says really long words that is not in the common parlance or vernacular. They just want him back because it would be the right thing. Which makes Julia Gillard the wrong thing, no matter how she positions herself.

I'm now wondering how in the hell the faction bosses are going to rein in the impulse to jump ship from the Gillard-is-PM project. how viscerally do MPs feel this kind of thing? Is it like a punch to the nuts or a blowtorch to the eyeballs or just a good gut punch? Judging from Anthony Albanese's strained, teary expression it might be a combination of all of the above. He looked pained. How are the backbenchers in the Gillard faction holding up? Especially those sitting on marginal seats? Isn't this the coalface of the problem? It's not Rudd's fault they're on marginal seats. It's Rudd's fault they lost their margin - if the stories about the leaks are to be believed. But if they then stick with Julia...

You get the feeling that the public are making themselves very clear. They want to be heard, and what they're saying is bring back Kevin Rudd. It's a remarkable turn of events.