Weather here at Bradfield is very very nice like sugar and spice.
I had a little spat on Twitter with PvO last night over this article he wrote on the Daily Terror:
JUDGING performances in 2011 is made harder by the varying degrees of difficulty each politician faced.
Julia Gillard presided over the worst sustained set of polling numbers in our national history. Yet despite leading a minority government, she has implemented much of her difficult agenda.
Tony Abbott failed to inspire as an alternative prime minister. But no one could deny his outstanding job at tearing down the government’s credibility. Taking into account such paradoxes, we give you the best and the worst performers of 2011.
THE BEST: Tony Abbott 9.5/10
THE Opposition Leader was without doubt the standout performer of the year. Put aside your opinion of his (lack of) policies and his negative tactics. Indeed, put aside his poor personal ratings, too. Abbott can single-handedly take credit for the pressure the government is under. Despite coming heartbreakingly close to winning the 2010 election, he continued to work every day to expose government failings. So good has Abbott been, it’s hard to distinguish between opposition spin and how Labor is really travelling. Can he keep it up for another two years? READ MORE
My points to PvO were simply that:
1. It’s easy for a politician to say NO. The #MSMhacks love it because it gives them drama, confrontation and biffo. I asked him to show one new substantial policy initiative and vision for Australia from Tony Abbott
2. Tony Abbott a leader? a clever opposition politician maybe, but he aint no leader.
3. This a classic example of how the #MSMhack have lost it. By saying NO to triumph over YES to policies & vision. Allowing slogan driven and dog’s whistle politics to triumph over policies & vision. Provide further encouragement to Tony Abbott to continue his negative politicking.
To his credit, PvO twitted back:
vanOnselenP Peter van Onselen
Probably shouldn’t have called it rating our ‘leaders’…let’s just call it rating our politicians….
8 hours ago
G’Day to All.