Stand for Nothing, Win at Everything

There's nothing like a big foreign visit to perk up a Government that's a bit down in the dumps, and Hilary Rodham Clinton's bright orange pants-suit is just the distraction the PM needs at the moment. The Gillard Labor Government have copped it in the last few weeks, because despite being in Government, and having technically 'won' the election (because the side in Government are the people who won - always), they apparently lost it. And people who lose are losers. And losers suck. Winners are the ones we like, and the people who won are in Opposition, even though they lost.

In the weeks following the election people have spoken of Labor like they are in Opposition, like they are once again in the political wilderness, wherever the fuck that is, probably somewhere in South Australia.

However strange or unfair as that may be, as sure as higher socio-economic tax avoidance and everyone's inevitable lonely death, the Labor Party are once again having a good old soul-search. Young up-and-comers are providing hints that things could be better. Greg Combet, still basking in his post Bastard Boys ABC jerk off session of three and a half years ago, has declared a need for a return to core Labor values. Fan-fucking-tastic, lets do it. That sounds great. Parties should stand for something, right? So lets stand up and do it, for something! YAY SOMETHING!

People always claim they want parties to stand for something, particularly Oppositions. But do they? Does that ever work? If that were true then the small target strategy position occupied by the majority of Oppositions would have been dumped decades ago. When Rudd won the 2007 election, he stood for not being John Howard, when Howard won in 1996, he stood for not being Paul Keating etcetera. Governments love to be known retrospectively as 'reformist', because that is code for 'achieved something', but they do not necessarily win Government by preaching reform. They win it by being competent, standing still and allowing the other mob to run themselves into the ground. Governments stand for governing, Oppositions stand for being in government. What occurs in between is completely dependent on the public, who are so filled with trepidation, that second terms are almost a forgone conclusion.

As time goes on the Major parties bleed votes to minor parties like The Greens, because they do stand for something. This usually does not last. In 2010 The Greens won 11.7% in the House of Representatives and 13.7% in the Senate, because they stood for something. In 1990, the Australian Democrats won 11.2% and 12.6% respectively for the same reason, but as soon as they got to the big table and had to put their name on decisions their vote went south. Quickly.

The Greens are not the Democrats, but they are at the big table. And we'll see very quickly what, and how much, people want them to stand for.