An interesting assessment of Kevin Rudd and his origins, from a political sense, by Chris Griffith in today’s Oz.
It’s a well written piece and reasonably describes the Rudd we see leading Labor today. I tend to disagree though with Ross Fitzgerald and John Black when they assess Rudd as not ideologically driven. Rudd may not be a socialist in the purest sense, but his explanations of his plans for Australia, should Labor take government, and the passion he’s displayed to date about education, health and general social needs in society bring me to believe that he certainly has democratic socialist leanings.
Conservative he may also be, in accordance with his religiosity and rather straight-laced views on gay marriage and stem-cell research, but conservative in terms of Howardian conservatism, he most certainly isn’t It’s these aspects of the next potential Prime Minister of Australia, which I believe, put a lie to the age-old left -v- right paradigm parrotted by many in a bid to pidgeon-hole both themselves and their antitheses.
Politics is no longer about extremes, as the past five weeks of the Election2007 campaign has demonstrated. It’s no longer strictly about ideologies, although John Howard might dispute that in his quieter moments. Politics is about tactical positioning and expertise in the practice of game theory. Then tired and worn epithets of ‘left’ or ‘right’ simply don’t mean anything any more.
UPDATE: An excellent example of the bitter taste left in the mouths of those who perpetuate the left -v- right paradigm.