Right Thinking From The Left Coast
"To what purpose are powers limited, and to what purpose is that limitation committed to writing,
if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained?"
-- Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 1803

Saturday, October 09, 2004

The Coalition Lives!
by Lee

A razor-thin electoral margin.  An anti-war candidate pitted against a leader who sent troops into harm’s way in an unpopular war in Iraq.  The US?  No, Australia.  And guess who won?

Prime Minister John Howard scored a convincing victory in Australia’s federal election Saturday, winning a historic fourth term in a vote ensuring the staunch U.S. ally keeps its troops in Iraq.

With more than 70 percent of votes tallied, Howard appeared likely to increase his government’s majority in parliament - exceeding most analysts’ predictions that the result would be very tight.

“My fellow Australians ... I am truly humbled by this extraordinary expression of confidence in the leadership of this great nation by the coalition,” Howard told cheering supporters of his conservative alliance in Sydney.

“In accepting their charge to lead the nation I rededicate myself and all of my colleagues to the service of the Australian people.”

Gee, you don’t think the Australian media had an interest in portraying the race as being a lot closer than it actually was, do you?  At any rate, not only did Howard win, but he increased his power in parliament.  Thos does nothing but bode well for George W. Bush.

I will make one observation, however.  As a dual-citizen Australian/American, when Bush was making his “You forgot Poland” statement, I noticed that he had neglected to mention Australia.  Then, last night, he once again did not mention Australia’s contribution to the coalition.  I honestly think that this was intentional.  Bush is hated in Australia to a large degree, and I think that any instance of Bush mentioning Australia’s participation in Iraq would have been siezed upon by Howard’s opposition. 

Nonetheless, Howard is PM once more.  His defeat would have been used as a huge propaganda victory by the Kerry campaign, so this will do nothing but help Bush in one way or another.

Posted by Lee on 10/09/04 at 03:16 PM in Election 2004  • (1) Trackbacks • Permalink • Discuss this in the forums
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