I read something in The Age yesterday, can't find it now, that was about how Julia Gillard draws a huge crowd of female admirers wherever she goes on the campaign trail. She's seen as a real go-girl amongst the fairer sex and dispite her major drawbacks from an economics/IR/commie perspective she is getting grass-roots support. Labour are able to capitalize on sisterhood factor because the Libs are allowing them a monopoly on women in the political spotlight.
The Libs don't want to look like Bullies. You can beat up Rudd, but unfortunately women attract more sympathy. There's a stark contrast between the style of Gillard and the Labour health spokesperson (forgot her name) and Abbot, Turnbull and Downer whenever they come head-to-head on the 7:30 report etc. The Libs are also starting to fight much harder, Abbot apparently almost bringing Gillard to tears on the radio over health issues last week. Ok, she has to be able to cop the heat if she's going to play with the big boys but why can't we bring in our female talent to hit back so she does not benefit from underdog sympathy? If not all the time how about some of the time? At the moments it's none of the time.
Where is Bishop? Has she really pissed someone off or what because I can't understand why she is not more prominent in the media at present? There must be other women in high-profile positions in the government aswell. I recall when Howard came to power he majorly trumped the ALP with number of female members. A blokey approach was part of the ALP's knuckle-dragging chest-beating culture back then. Now the libs are looking old-fashioned.
In my experience the people who always argue hardest for conservative social causes like excellence in education and realism in health care are women. Janet Albrechsten is hard-core conservative! Sometimes women are a bit pacifistic on the foreign affairs front i've found, but not always. Condi Rice has bigger nuts than Colon Powell and no foolin'. Women are also by far the most passionate about immigration and failure to integrate people from cultures where women are not equal.
Women are passionate about trad. conservative values issues, and can be brought on side other issues. The female vote is key to this election because of IR. Apart from nurses and teachers in the public system, i'm guessing women have historically not had as much union representation in the past as men at least in the private sector. They and are therefore less likely to be loyal to the union movement. Women are traditionally not as prominent on the factory floor they will have less sympathy for unions and the macho class-war culture that Howard is trying to dissemble. Women will be less tribal in their voting patterns, unlike blokes supporting their union or football team, and so will make up a large proportion of the swinging IR voters (and swinging voters in general in my estimation). If Rudd can spin WorkChoices as bad for our kids, as the unionists in the Melbourne street protest were trying to do, then women will vote against Howard. If Howard can dismiss these concerns with facts, play up the benefits to kids of a long-term upward trend in employment and conditions and then trump it Labour by emphasising that WorkChoices is good for meritocracy - equal pay for equal work - and against the entrenched and often sexist interests in the union movement then he will win Women voters over.
Bring the women on board and the Libs will win it. Rudd has given us a head start by going to a strip club whilst married and with a daughter in her 20's. The Libs can punch a hole in the ALP campaign by bringing out some big-gun women like Julie Bishop. Allowing Julia Gillard to be the only prominent female voice on the airwaves is a big mistake.
