Crikey

Rudd’s a sneaky bunny. Kevin Rudd says he’s running a positive campaign, but he seems to be indulging in some sneaky subliminals. First there were the negative positive TV spots last week. Then, off on the hustings in Victoria on Saturday, the Labor leader carried a rabbit while his sidekick (look on the right of your screen) had a rat. The subtext is clear. Rudd is saying “I’m a cuddly bunny; my opponent is a lying rodent”. The opposition leader had another character test to tackle over the weekend when Telstra made an unwarranted intrusion into the campaign. In the wee small hours of Sunday morning the Bigpond homepage carried the “Dumbledore is gay” story under a photo of Rudd. A Crikey focus group found there was something queer about wizards anyway. — Christian Kerr

Small man syndrome. Prepping for the debate John Howard asks staffer the political equivalent of “Does my bum look big in this?”

 The “spasm”. Howard’s debate “spasm” was talkback fodder this morning. One caller suggested it was due to “woodworm”.  

 Out of the ears of babes. In the interests of balance, here again is a young Kevin Rudd indulging his aural fixation.  Quote of the Day. “I think he does ‘me too’ rather well.” Bronwyn Bishop discusses Kevin Rudd’s debate performance on Sky News.