neck and neck-newspoll- abbotts gooone!, page-62

".... There will be many non-socialists rethink their vote if Malcolm gets the nod,.... "

mate, who are they going to vote for??

hanna, the Liberal's problem, can't you see it? The fact that many Liberals have a hatred for Turnbull (the most recent leader) is nothing but an indication that they are no longer centre of the road. They are no longer in the centre for two reasons. Firstly they refused, as they always do, to accept that they were given the Big A by the voters when Howard lost power - The Born To Rule Syndrome and, secondly, Mr. Abbott is being tutored by the very man who led them to their initial defeat. Non other than Howard himself. So we have not moved on policy., in fact we are bereft of it. No policy to combat global warming, no policy to address the difficulties associated with the global financial crisis, no policies on infrastructure, but unacceptable policies to do with Howard's ideas: industrial relations, for example.

To sum up. Politics 101 tells you that a political party's length of tenure in power and it's tendency to ossify towards its end of the political spectrum go hand in hand. It is the most likely and and most often reason why they are ultimately rejected by the voter. The likelihood of a political party to once again make themselves "respectable" depends upon their readiness and ability to change their attitude. To move back to the centre. Turnbull offers the best hope of the Liberals doing this. He is, however, both a "problem" as well as a possible "solution." He can attract the voter but there is a conflict at the philosophical level within the party. The signal that the Liberals have realized and become prepared to move on their ideas will be the election of Turnbull as their leader. They keep Abbott where he is at their peril.