I'll vote for Labor if they replace Rudd with Bindi

One of the more interesting features of the emergence of Kevin Rudd onto the national political scene is the rise of his popularity given that he has articulated few policies. The substantive policy difference from the government was the IR policy where he was reasonably specific but got a hostile reaction - everything else was non-specific. Last night’s ‘budget speech reply’ made past Labor Party ‘small target’ strategies seem like action-packed agenda.

The only way I can understand Rudd’s popularity is to accept that the Howard Government is in fact very unpopular - I don't like this but maybe it is a fact. It is difficult for me to understand given the strength of the economy.

Tim Blair did a beautiful job of summarising Rudd’s clichés in his budget reply speech.

This was a good Friday afternoon laugh after a complicated general equilibrium seminar on economics. Providing this speech (in leaflet format) could help the Australian economy economise on limited supplies of mogadon.

Mr Rudd said:

'I am an optimist when it comes to our country’s future.
Tonight I want to outline our plan for our country’s future.
We are truly blessed to be Australians.
We live in a stable democracy, when many in the world do not.
There is nothing to hold us back as a nation and as a people – except a lack of long-term vision.
We are part of a world that is changing faster than ever before.
Big changes are coming.
Big challenges are waiting around the corner.
They will dramatically influence almost every aspect of our lives – some for the better, others for the worse.
And some will be upon us in the blink of an eye.
We can either seize the great opportunities that have been presented to us. Or we can squander them.
The truth is the sun is shining right now on Australia.
We must seize the day and get our house in order.
Productivity is the measure of how efficiently we produce goods and services.
The better trained we are, the greater our productivity.
The better our use of technology in the workplace, the greater our productivity.
The better our management in the workplace, the greater our productivity.
Productivity is a bit like getting the best performance out of your engine for the least amount of fuel.
Sometimes the wind changes direction and there can be lots of turbulence. And the only way to get home is with powerful engines that can do the hard yards in any conditions.
The time for action is now.
The earlier you invest in a child’s educational opportunities, the better the result.
Good for the child.
Good for the country.
For business it is a tough and highly competitive world out there.
Our intention is to enable Australian businesses to take on the world and win.
We want to unite Australia, not see it divided'.

Yawn. A commentator on Tim’s blog suggested the, yawn, speech had been written and delivered by, yawn, Bindi Irwin! She'd be a good Labor recruit - and possibly a better choice than young Kevvie as she would help restore the genfder balance.

Andrew Bolt summarised the, ‘yawn’, press reaction to young Kevvie's speech.