Rudd’s handled his “Reingate” fairly well because he’s been prepared to say he was “sorry”. It’s exactly the way that Peter Beattie has managed to prosper in Queensland as he stumbles from one disaster to the next. Beattie is so blatant that it has become a running joke amongst participants in our surveys.
The standard patter goes along the lines of, “I’m sorry and I take full responsibility, which is why you have to give me a mandate so that I can fix the problem, because I’m the only one that can.” One year this led to one of our respondents giving him the following end-of-season awards:
“Mea Culpa Award to Peter Beattie, it’s always his fault. Mirror Award to Peter Beattie again, there’s always something to be looked into. Best Supporting cast for remainder of State Parliament, whomever they may be… Vince Lester Trophy to , you guessed it, Peter Beattie, although not technically walking backwards, he has made an unceasing number of about-faces.”
Seems if you say you’re sorry you’ll be forgiven everything.
But for some south of the border, like the Prime Minister, “sorry” is the hardest word to say. Which raises the question, would we see a move in the polls if he learnt to pronounce it.