Comments on: No guts, no glory, no generosity.

By: kryptosporidian

kryptosporidian — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:50:12 +0000

you know Costello could turn his PR image around if he had the guy with the guitar from the hyundai ad follow him around everywhere singing “gen-er-ous”

By: kryptosporidian

kryptosporidian — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:47:52 +0000

surely cowardice is one of Costello’s least objectionable personality traits?

By: Dave from Albury

Dave from Albury — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:29:04 +0000

Lee, Keating was already headed for a beating in ’96, Wayne Goss was collateral damage on the way there.

People who genuinely want to be leaders don’t play the type of games that Costello did. As for Costello not having the numbers, Keating didn’t either, he moved to the back bench and waited for his colleagues to realise what was happening. Costello wouldn’t take the pay cut or the loss of attention required to go to the back bench, he simply lacked the self belief.

By: raydixon

raydixon — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 06:19:00 +0000

I agree with Dave, Costello has always put himself first. Compare his actions to those of Kim Beazley who at much the same age as Costello willingly took on the ‘death seat’ after Keating was tragically thrown out by a reactionary electorate. When you go into politics do you say, “well I’ll only stick at this until I can earn mega bucks outside” or do you stick at it full stop? Real leaders would do the latter. Ergo Costello = an also ran.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 06:04:59 +0000

I don’t see it as Costello being gutless, I see it that it is all a little too late to be seen as the future of the party. He should have been leader 18 months ago, not declared as the saviour once Howard has fucked the coalition over.

If I had the option of being second best (albeit in a different form) for another 3 years, or earning millions away from politics, I know which option I’d be taking too.

By: Lee

Lee — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:56:08 +0000

I agree that the Costello missed his grand opportunity with the miscalculation over the ’96 election; but in his defence, who else saw that coming twelve months out? The truth is, it was not Howard that ruined Pete’s career, it was Downer. If the guy could have just hung on for 9 or so months, he would have led a losing coalition into the election and Costello would have been the next PM. Perhaps it was not a matter of courage, but rather a misreading of the political climate.

As for leaving when things have turned sour, he’s not the Lone Ranger there. The fact that only Abbott and Nelson of the senior MP’s have nominated is an indication of a party resigning itself to at least 6 years in opposition. If history teaches us anything, this means at least two opposition leaders and at least one very dirty, media consuming fight. To take the leadership on at this stage would be resigning oneself for another kicking in the public eye. You can’t blame a guy for not wanting that.

Furthermore, there was no guarantee that he would have won over Turnbull in the first instance. That would have been more embarrassing than losing Bennelong.

As for not challenging Howard over the past few years, he knew that if he did not win the challenge (and he didn’t have the numbers) he was resigning the government to lose the next election. He actually put the party first. At the end of the day, he sacrificed his own ambitions for the party good. It is a bit rich for the party to ask him for even more, considering what awaits him in the ‘real’ world.

Political events have conspired against Costello to the same extent that events have helped Howard. As leader, Howard was judged in the present, while Costello has only been judged in hindsight. It is unfair to say that Costello could have beaten Latham. We all know this to be true, but how many of us where prepared to put money on it 9 months out? Likewise, it is commonly acknowledged that Howard only won against Beazley because of Tampa and the children overboard saga. If these did not sail into the political landscape weeks out from an election, Howard would be gone and Costello would have been on the verge of over throwing PM Beazley. It would be much fairer to assess Costello from the perspective of the day, not hindsight.

Besides, if for no other reason, we should forgive him on these grounds – Christopher Pyne is pretending to be a player. Would you want to put up with his shit for the next 6 years? I’d run away too.

By: Keating on Costello « Alpine Opinion

Keating on Costello « Alpine Opinion — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 14:20:57 +0000

[...] Prime Minister of Australia, but the truth is that he simply didn’t have courage …. click HERE for link to Dave’s [...]

By: Dave from Albury

Dave from Albury — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 12:29:03 +0000

PS, take a look at what I wrote about Costello at the Liberal party launch here. Psychic.