I though that Peter van Onselen is supposed to be a journalist. But his writings over the past month have been consistently pro-Rudd. He seems to be acting as Rudd's campaign manager.
Today we have his article
Blocking Kevin won't leave Julia a martyr saying she should step aside because she won't be a martyr like Gough Whitlam. He argues she should stand aside because
all that will be remembered is the size of the defeat Gillard would have presided over.
Rudd admitted yesterday he made mistakes as prime minister. It might seem like an obvious statement, but to the powerbrokers who are considering asking him to return to the prime ministership it was a key statement for him to make.
The game-changing nature of a return to Rudd would see a realignment in fundraising for Labor, as well as seats into which those funds could be targeted. The simple fact that the party would no longer need to plough money into double-digit margin seats just to save the furniture would force the Coalition to spread its financing thinner. And Rudd could even open up defensive plays by the LNP in a state like Queensland, thus helping sitting Labor MPs to hang on to their seats.
Rudd is a proven campaigner popular with the public. The polling bounce alone following a change to Rudd would generate enthusiasm Gillard simply could not muster.
The perspective that Rudd is some sort of terrorist because he didn't just roll up into a little ball and quietly go away after he was brutally ejected from the prime ministership is a convenient argument by Gillard supporters. But she was the initial aggressor, when as his deputy she challenged Rudd in his first term. That is true political terror.
The next sitting fortnight is Shorten's chance at redemption, even if the process will not be a pleasant one. History will surely see it that way. Shorten must look to Button for inspiration.
Doing so [bringing back Rudd] has more chance of lifting Labor's fortunes than the dysfunctional situation at the present
HOW do 102 souls make the conscious decision to strap themselves into a bus that is about to career off a cliff? Because that is what the federal Labor caucus has done by sticking with Julia Gillard.
There are other examples, but I'm convinced that Peter von Onselen is Kevin Rudd's biggest supporter and fan.
