I happen to live in the Prime Minister's electorate of Bennelong. The upside of this is that I can directly vote against the PM; the downside is that we receive mail from him every so often.
Last Friday we got a glossy brochure with a military theme. Lots of army stuff and words about not quitting. A cursory glance and in the recycle bin it went.
Today I readin the Sun Herald 'Be on alert for more terror ads - Anti-Terror Watch':
The resurrection of the "Be alert, not alarmed" campaign was prompted by a need to reinforce the National Security Hotline number "because people weren't remembering it", a Government source said.
They're going to make sure we don't forget it; aided by $15 million worth of reminding. They will hope that pulling out of Iraq equates with an increased risk of terrorism in the mind of voters.
Hopefully I'm wrong, but I think they're onto something. In my opion, Labor's Iraq stance is their biggest impediment to winning government. The Government parties used the same tactics in the 60s and 70s regarding Labor's Vietnam policy to stay in power. They think it will work again.
The thought of Australia pulling out of Iraq will disturb a lot of voters. Howard knows this. We'll hear a lot more of it over the coming months.
