Howard’s end?

Nothing is going right for John Howard at the moment. Following a slight improvement in the polls last week came a poor showing against Kevin Rudd in the only debate of the Australian election campaign.  Now a devastating poll has Labor with a crushing lead of 58-42%.  Most worrying for the government must be the news that Rudd has made big strides on the issues of economic management and national security. These are supposed to be Howard’s strong suits and suggest that having made up their minds to vote for Rudd, voters are now telling themselves that he can be trusted with these issues. 

Howard opened his campaign with a bang last Monday by promising $34 billion in tax-cuts, mainly to low-income earners. It was an attempt to wrest momentum away from Rudd and raise the morale of the party faithful but it appears to have failed. Labor’s rival tax-plan, released on Friday, has been well-enough received to negate the issue, shifting the debate back to industrial relations and the perception that Howard has had his time.