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The Virtues of Standing Fast: The Lessons in the Fall of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
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| Parent(s) |
Race
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| Contributor | RP |
| Last Edited | RP Jun 24, 2010 04:26pm |
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| Category | Blog Entry |
| Author | Daniel Berman |
| News Date | Thursday, June 24, 2010 10:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | It’s not often that a leader who came to office with the highest popular vote total for his party in three decades is ousted before he has had a chance to face the voters a second time. Its even rarer that his fall follows two years as one of his country's most popular Prime Ministers. And it is almost unheard of for a party insider to call his leader a crypto-fascist. Yet that is exactly what an Australian Labor Party insider used in regards of now-former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, noting that “This crypto-fascist made no effort to build a base in the party. Now that his only faction, Newspoll, has deserted him he is gone."
The fall of Kevin Rudd, Australia’s first Labor Prime Minister in 11 years, came as a shock to observers with few expecting it to occur as quickly or decisively as it did. Less than a week ago he appeared largely secure, and while a number of commentators, including myself for fivethirtyeight.com, were working on pieces suggesting he faced challenges as his government appealed to the Australian people for a second term, few expected the collapse to come so quickly. All in all, the leadership coup which toppled Kevin Rudd occurred in half a day, with less than twelve hours between the announcement of a challenge by his deputy, Julia Gillard, and his decision to resign in the face of almost certain defeat.
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