Where Did the Election Go?

The Australian election campaign is in full swing. And it hardly merits a mention in polite conversation.  It has gone on for weeks and there are still 3 weeks to go.  But the official campaign is being upstaged by an unofficial campaign on YouTube and elsewhere.  Here the internet is buzzing.  I can find 730 videos about the Leader of the Opposition Kevin Rudd and no less than 2930 featuring Prime Minister John Howard.  The most popular have hundreds and thousands of accesses and they are merciless in their observation and humour.

Want a taste?

 Here is Kevin Rudd as revered Chinese leader, complete with poorly translated subtitles.

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Or the Chasers wonderful Led Zeppelin parody: ‘Stairway to Kevin‘ which I can’t embed but you can follow the link here .

John Howard’s clips are no less cruel, quite the opposite in fact.  If Rudd is parodied it is out of some measure of respect and perhaps affection coupled with a desire to cut him down to size.  For Howard it is parody and anger in equal measure.

For a slice of anger watch this clip of the ‘Bye Jonnie’ video:

Or there is the much gentler: ‘John Howard Macho Man‘ cut to the soundtrack of the Village People song.