Australian PM John Howard Loses Election

AP:

Conservative Prime Minister John Howard suffered a humiliating defeat Saturday at the hands of the left-leaning opposition, whose leader has promised to immediately sign the Kyoto Protocol on global warming and withdraw Australia's combat troops from Iraq.

Labor Party head Kevin Rudd's pledges on global warming and Iraq move Australia sharply away from policies that had made Howard one of President Bush's staunchest allies.

Read the whole story: AP

Comments

[partyofone]

I hope the Democratic party and American voters will also recognize the need for change. Nominiating and electing Hillary Bush-Clint­on-Bush-Cl­inton continues the corporate-­profiteeri­ng status quo and the warmongering in the Middle East to protect multi-national oil interests.

The Bush administration seems enamored of the dictatorial regimes in the world and their determination to hold onto power, irrespective of popular vote, as in Lebanon, Pakistan and Russia.

We are in VERY SCARY times folks, for the future of American democracy. Do we really need Bush-Clinton dominance of the presidency? Hillary now, Jeb is next. heaven help us.

[kcgeezer]

I'm sure GOPtards like the trolls on this thread (reeceofshit, this means you and your koolaid drinking friends) will rationalize this as a sure sign that things are improving in Iraq. Our allies feel that things are so much better we don't need them there anymore. Right?

[AKJM]

HUFF PO EDITORS:
Thanks for slide #5. First I've seen of foreign opposition to Iraq war. It's massive! Where's our media.

[kay]

Visibly frustrated by questions over the issue, Howard said:"I've condemned it, I've dissociated myself from it, I think it is stupid, it's offensive, it's wrong, it's untrue, I mean for heaven's sake get a sense of proportion­."

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd said the prime minister still had questions to answer over the incident.

"Mr Howard has to explain how this occurred and who in the Liberal Party organisation was aware of it," he said.

[kay]

Conservatives are the same the world over....in­cidentally­, the Liberal party is Howard's Party.

"The husband of a Liberal candidate has been forced to quit the party over a bogus leaflet scandal that threatens to hand a key marginal Sydney seat to Labor.

But Greg Chijoff tried to shield his wife Karen Chijoff, candidate for the western Sydney seat of Lindsay, insisting she knew nothing about misleading pamphlets he had issued aimed at discrediting Labor.

As he tried to control the damage, Prime Minister John Howard condemned the bogus leaflets as offensive and said the Liberal Party had dealt with the scandal with "lightning speed".

Purporting to be from a fictitious Islamic group, the Islamic Australia Foundation, the flyers claim Labor wants the Bali bombers forgiven and supports a mosque being built in western Sydney.

The Australian Electoral Commission is investigating the scandal and has referred the matter to the Australian Federal Police, which was considering whether to launch its own investigation.

Mr Chijoff and other Liberal supporters were caught letterboxing the leaflets in Lindsay on Tuesday night after a tip-off, apparently from a fellow Liberal.

Mr Chijoff wrote to NSW Liberal Party state director Graham Jaeschke quitting the party, apologising and confessing his "deep embarrassment" over the flyer."

[bushmocker]

Our military has been operating under the idea we could fight three wars simultaneously,hows that work trolls?We have a week to win or go broke?

[raptor]

Judging from the comments below, California wildfires bring out the crazies on any topic.

[JamesR.]

Hey hey! Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving.

Oh dear, I see BJclosetcase is all a twitter again. I wonder how spun he will be when Bill Clinton is back in the White House for 8 more years?


Sweet!

[hope4theflowers]

im not impressed.­Poland isnt withdrawing for another year...oh.­.wow..and Australia is only withdrawing a litle over 500 troops leaving twice that many stil there.
***


***

ok when does the party start.((ro­lls eyes))

[IntelligentDesign]

Australia now joins 99.9% of the world's population, the US electorate, France, Spain, Italy, England, and Poland on the wrong side of Bush's great and noble crusade to rid the world of evildoers - what happened here? It certainly wasn't the marketing, which was right on target. Unlimited supplies of blood and treasure.

Help me out here trolls, I'm down right perplexed.

[ViscountMontie]

Proves just how dopey politicians really are. If you could tell from the highly visible scabs that a whore was riddled with syphilis,would you leap into bed with her?? These clowns all did. We're stuck with the suppurating bitch for another year.

[Dantheman99]

For those following the Australian election, please go to the Australian Electoral Commission website to see how their electoral system works:

http://www.aec.gov.au/

The coverage on ABC News (Australian Electoral Commission) is superb:

http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2007/

It is the best system in the world, IMO.

Ranked-choice voting means that no one "throws their vote away" or becomes a spoiler candidate. If no one wins 50% of the vote, the second preferences and third preferences and so on come into play into the most consensus candidate wins. This "isntant-runoff voting" allows for mulitple parties, but stability with two basic voting groups.

Conservatives can pick between an urban/business conservative party (Liberal) or a rural, agricultural, primary industries party (National) and preference each other before the left so that their votes help to elect a conservative.

Progressives can vote Green if they wish knowing an Australian Labor Party candidate would pick up their higher ranked preference over the conservative candidates.

In the Senate, chosen by proportional representation called "Single Transferable Vote", the system used in Ireland and increasingly in Britain, like minded parties often work together.

Ranked-choice voting in single-member districts in the Australian House (a.k.a. "Instant Runoff Voting" here in the U.S.) and ranked-choice voting in multi-member districts, known as single-transferable vote to political scientists is the way to go to ensure more fairness and more proportionality, but still have individual accountability to a specific geographic/regional area.

Ranked-choice not only allows us to vote for our first choice first, it captures the complexity of voter opinion.

I'm glad to see more localities in the U.S. are moving toward ranked-choice voting and I believe Vermont is studying it for a state level. It would revolutionize our politics, empower voters to vote first FOR someone rather than against someone, and it reduces negative campaigning.

Our whole electoral system, from the immoral and antiquate electoral college to campaign financing to voting procedures needs a total overhaul for the 21st century.

[rivrgrrl]

anyone who doesn't get teared up at this song/video has no heart.....­.which rules out darth and chimpy mcfightsuit right off the bat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8jw-ifqwkM

[Pacific231]

Hey Chimpy! "What about Poland" now??

Damn. It will take years to get that trailer trash stink out of the White House.

[LaFeminazi]

I wonder what the trolls would say if.

Bush or for argument lets say Hillary didn't like a supreme court decision.

The kick out the judges and replace them with sycophants of their own choosing.

Then they say this decision was necessary for the security of the nation, would they suck up the spin?