The Australian election came and went in about six weeks. Rudd took office the next day. It's over. In America, they're still duking it out over an election a year away.

The latest squabble is between Clinton and Obama -  who's health care plan is better? Pardon me, I'm now just a curious outsider - but as it turns out I can still vote. 

Hillary, you need Barack. Whether you like it or not, he's your vice president. Deal with it - or get out of the race. You can't win without him.

In any event, you'll never get to battle Republicans if you're stuck in the mud fighting your own party.  If you want to differentiate yourself from other candidates, the best way is to go for the jugular of the other party - not your own. 

Screw health care. Didn't you learn that when your hubby was the president? Nobody wants your health care initiative. They didn't want it then, they don't want it now. You aren't strong enough (today) to fight the health care lobby. It's the economy, stupid. It's the war, stupid. Health care? It's just stupid, stupid. Pardon me Hillary - because this is sexist, but you just don't have the balls to socialize the American medical system. It's a nasty fight that will probably destroy whatever president tries to pull it off. Save it for another day, like a second term - if you get that far. That's a good time to go down swinging. The way things are going, you'll never get the first term.

Looks like we've got a new prime minister. That would be Kevin Rudd - although I learned from the last couple of elections in the states not to call a winner until the court has spoken. Last night the Liberal Party spokespersons were taking care not to admit defeat or make concession speeches - holding out for every last vote to be counted.

Labor unions are still big here, and the Labor Party is big with the unions. So even though Mr. Rudd won the election on platforms such as global warming which appeal to all voters, deep down, you can hear the Labor Party leaders talking about how they've now got a 'mandate' to rewrite all the workplace agreement laws. This is no different than the states, where a republican victory is usually declared a mandate to change abortion or school prayer laws.

When I took my current job, I was offered a choice - either an individual contract or a collective contract. Taking the collective contract pretty much makes you a union member. I chose the individual contract. This choice is at the heart of the workplace agreement reform Labor's talking about. They really don't like the fact that individual contracts are offered as a choice and want to make joining the union more opt-out than opt-in. 

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There was a big sign out front of the hardware store yesterday. Chook manure. Translated: chicken shit.

Thanksgiving came and went here yesterday without much fanfare. Just another work day. We had a ham dinner at the pub - which is the only place in town that serves food after 8PM. We'll probably have something a bit more traditional tonight (Friday) to go along with the U.S. holiday. 

But all eyes here are on the Australian election tomorrow. Kevin Rudd seems to have a strong lead. He's Labor Party or what those in the states would call a 'democrat'. The Liberal Party here is John Howard and would be what would be called a 'republican' in America. 

Howard has made some pretty bold moves in the last month, but 80% of it is pure financial bribery to get re-elected. Most people are genuinely tired of him. If he comes out on top, it's going to be expensive to make good on all the financial promises he  has made. His main argument for staying in power sounds reminiscent of Bush in 2004. Stay the course - you are a fool if you want to change horses in the middle of a stream.

Well, yes - valid point. But I personally think it's OK to jump off a horse in the middle of a stream if in fact you had no intention of being in the stream in the first place, and the durn fool horse just decided (against all better judgement) to go swimming in flood currents.