There's an old cliche that no one ever went broke underestimating the stupidity of the general public. I'm not so sure. Because the Liberal and National parties are losing, well, everything by treating the general public like idiots. Greedy idiots. If you want to know everything about how the right sees the public, just see how they carry on when they lose.
The line goes from the LNP and their media supporters that their massive electoral failures are due to an inability to effectively get their message across. They have solid plans to rejuvenate the state and federal economies, but voters just won't accept that, won't join in on making the sacrifices required of us all in this time of economic difficulty.
And it's this that's making the electorate shake their heads in dismay. Not just the "latte sippers" of the left (and we should all start referring to right wingers as coffee obsessives; what's with their fixation on people's choice of hot beverage? It's not like there haven't been Gloria Jeans' in Penrith forever; lattes are hardly the sole provenance of the inner city elite. At least a few of the slightly more aware columnists are now referring to "tapas munchers". Anyway, speaking of elites, how much do you think these Murdoch columnists and talkback hosts get paid? Does Miranda Devine go down to the RSL on cheap schnitzel night then put $10 on Queen of the Nile? Has Andrew Bolt ever waited till Domino's Cheaper Tuesday to get pizza?).
Apart from the few rusted on Abbott supporters left, everyone can see that the government's budget, and the government itself, and the state governments in Queensland and Victoria, have failed because of arrogance and unfairness, not an inability to get the message across. The Liberal-National coalition and the commetariat that support them are too out of touch to
And Tony Abbott says politics is not a popularity contest. Actually, in a democracy it kind of is. Abbott knows what's best for Australia; as he told talkback host Ray Hadley this morning "it's about our people, it's about what's best for them". And he doesn't care what they think.
If he ever did.
Tony Abbott was a devastatingly effective opposition leader, but as Prime Minister simply devastating. If good opposition leader means bad PM, and the inverse, maybe we can hope that Bill Shorten will be one of our greatest statesmen, or at least finish out a term, which may be all be can hope for from here.
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