Mid term report

So, we are practically at the mid point of the election and if there are going to be any stumbles or breakthroughs I think this will be the week.  The PM says we are going to start to see the 'real' Julia - let's hope it's not quite the same one KRudd got to see!

We might actually see a bit of sparkle then, Julia gets real, Tony might give it a red hot go and start telling us about the country he wants us to become and not a return to the dark Howard days. The concern I have is that he might be able to convince enough people that those were the 'good old days', that you gave the other side a go but it was an 'experiment' that failed so let's just forget that little boo boo and go back.  God forbid. Bob and the Greens might also start to get some 'air' and their messages might start to get through. If all that happens it might truly be game on and we can all have some things to make a choice on.

No doubt Labour took a kick because of the leaks but I wonder if the average punter really cared, the leaks after all didn't mean much except that there was some disloyal fool in the camps who actually wanted their own party to lose - good grief.

There's a whiff that we might get another debate, that'd be a good thing, especially if the two can just be let go at each other, ask questions, make statements and be challenged.

I've not decided who I'll vote for but this coming week might decide me.  I am not inclined to see Tony as the kind of leader this country needs right now. Turnbull would have probably got my vote so it's not an anti-Liberal stance, it's about the right leader for the country and Tony hasn't yet cut it for me.  Labor is not possible for my own electorate because I have significant differences of approach and philosophy with the sitting member Michael Danby. I am not a fan of the Greens, even though Bob Brown is a personal hero.  So it will need to be an independent but I haven't received any material yet.  I value the privilege of being allowed to vote to make an informal vote for the House.  I am also one of those people who fills in every box in the Senate paper so I do take this seriously.

So to the week ahead.  If you do encounter a pollie, ask them questions, not with judgement already in place (what's the value in that except helping you to feel clever) but with genuine curiosity and a 'need to know'.