Election result in Australia

[bluesdave]

Last weekend we Aussies went to the polling booths to vote for our national government. Most of the pre-election opinion polls had the race being almost a dead heat, with a slight edge being given to the sitting Liberal government. The election campaign was fought mainly along economic lines, with some debate on hospitals, education, the environment and "homeland security". Interestingly, our involvement in the Iraq war did not surface very often, and I think that most voters, regardless of their political leanings, tended to ignore Iraq.

The result was that the Howard government was returned for a fourth term, and John Howard has set a new record for a Prime Minister - ie. winning four consecutive terms. Not only that, but the Liberals (Howard's party), have actually increased their vote, and looks like they might have a majority in the senate (our upper house).

I heard that after the third Kerry/Bush debate the contest is considered to be neck and neck. Apparently Kerry is trying to focus on economic issues while Bush is sticking to "homeland security". There was a documentary shown here this week about the presidential campaign - they focused on Ohio because of its perceived importance in this campaign - and it was amazing how many people who were interviewed, still actually believe that Saddam was actively involved in 9/11, and that he had WMDs stockpiled. The journalist talked to people who currently work, or previously worked in the steel industry, and have lost, or are going to lose their jobs because of Republican policies (going back to Reagan), and they *still* want to vote for Bush.

I also heard this week that Tony Blair is still considered to be (by Brits), the best political leader, even though he has copped a fair amount of flack over Iraq, and his party is "on the nose".

Where is all this leading, you might ask? I am wondering if maybe Bush will win in a more convincing manner than many people have been predicting. Is it possible that he too, like John Howard, might actually increase his vote? It seems to me that Bush has a great deal more grass roots support than some of the political pundits would have us believe.