Will he or won't he...?

No, I'm not talking about whether Tim Mathieson is going to pop the question and ask Julia to marry him, I'm talking about the other man in Julia's life; the one she was hoping to divorce and never see again. Yes, I'm talking about the Million Dollar Man himself, the narcissistic Kevin Rudd. I know that I have said this before, but given the recent rumblings in the Labor Party my prediction may soon be proved correct. Julia Gillard is on her last leg as Prime Minister; the only thing stopping her loyal comrades from immediately dispatching her is, quite frankly, there is no one to fill the position... except for Kevin.

The majority of the ALP despise K-Rudd, with many still blaming him for the damaging leaks that hampered the Party's re-election campaign within the first few weeks of election season last year. In addition to this many recall his tyrannical rein, a short era characterised by distrust, paranoia and a dictatorial, rather than consultative, approach to leadership. Rudd failed in almost all key indicators that predict successful leadership; but he was protected by his ultimate weapon: the opinion poll. While the polls were up, the Party would let him get away with blue murder, simply because, after being in the wilderness for so long, the members of the ALP could not quite believe their own resurrection. Finally, people liked them! The opinion polls became a drug that both Rudd and the ALP became addicted to, they allowed them to guide policy and decision making, which is a fatal error; shallow populism is never conducive with good government. A government must have a vision and, once they have a mandate, work to achieve it. Rudd lost all credibility when he jettisoned his Carbon policy, despite referring to Global Warming as the "greatest moral threat of our time". Rudd exposed himself as weak, and his Labor 'allies' were quick to turn on him once the polls started heading in the wrong direction.

"I'm coming for you Julia... at last I will have my revenge...!"

Gillard, ironically, is somewhat protected from the same fate as Rudd due to the nature in which she secured the top job. The Faceless Men know all too well the anger of the Australia people who saw what was done to Rudd as completely inappropriate and undemocratic. More ironically still, it is this situation which makes Rudd the only other alternative. The anger came about because Gillard was not a proven leader and got the top job by sliming her way into the top job by assassinating her leader. Rudd can do the same without the electoral backlash: he is a proven leader who some would say has more right to the job than Gillard.

With her popularity rate so low, the ALP needs to do something, but they are terrified of the only viable option. They know Rudd can only do better than Gillard, but they don't want him back; it would be a humiliating turn that would only fuel his smug ego and make him even more unbearable than before. Given that he was stabbed in the back by his own party, can you imagine Rudd's level of paranoia the next time around? Does anyone in the ALP seriously believe that he would be able to have a functioning relationship with Swan, the man who betrayed him to secure the Deputy PM spot? Rudd's return, while I believe it to be inevitable, will cause massive disruptions within the Party the likes of which I don't think we can fully predict. The simple fact of the matter is that Labor is broken and the longer they stay in power the more damaging it will be for both the Party and the Nation...