News Limited papers are abuzz with the news this morning that “Rudd is more likely to tell truth: voter poll” and that this means that “JOHN Howard has a major credibility problem”.
After the last election where “Trust” trumped “Truth” you’d have thought that journalists would know by now that electors think there are more important considerations than honesty when choosing a representative. In fact, an ability to be a good strategic liar might just be one of those things that they look for.
Howard is well behind in the polls. That allows him to run as the underdog against the mirage of a Rudd Government. At the same time, he is still comfortably rated the best on the economy, giving him a potent weapon to shepherd voters back to him.
The ALP National Conference next weekend will put the Rudd Government on display. It promises to be very much Howard Lite with little policy deviation from the status quo. There will be some impressively choreographed pyrotechnics from the left over IR and uranium which will be doused by Rudd in a demonstration of his “strength” and “character”. This demonstration that Rudd is ready to govern will put the microscope on him even more strongly, but the problem for Howard will be that on Rudd’s current policy settings there’s little to be scared of (although they wouldn’t want to have any more mistakes like the raid on the future fund for broadband).
It is in this context Rudd’s perceived honesty may be a problem for Howard. On Labor’s track record you’d expect them to say one thing to get elected and do another when they’re in office. But if Rudd continues to be held in high esteem policies may be accepted at face value.
No matter how strong Howard is on the economy, or how good a strategic liar he is seen to be, that is a major problem. Which means that the government is most likely to put in a lot more work on the issue of Rudd’s integrity.