Maybe it’s Tony Abbott’s own fault, and maybe he thinks it’s fantastic, but I’m a bit creeped out by the amount of attention being paid to the new Opposition Leader’s, um, assets.
Log on to any blog or social networking site in the past 36 hours and you’re likely to find as much in-depth analysis of Mr Abbott’s physical characteristics as his policy range. And I’m not talking about the size and shape of his ears.
While this might be a great boost to The Punch’s Question Time Live coverage - bring on the influx of stay-at-home-mums tuning into APAC at 2pm on sitting days - can you imagine what would happen if the same conversations were taking place about Julia Gillard?
While the deputy PM has borne intense scrutiny of her hair styles, and less so, her earlobes, the public inspection of Mr Abbott has been of a much more personal nature.
It’s possible this is because of Mr Abbott’s serious allergy to pants, which was highlighted in this morning’s Australian by Barnaby Joyce, who told the paper that when he went to see Mr Abbott on Monday night the then-leadership contender answered the door in his “grundies”.
Cue joke about him having the “balls” to run.
Footage from an old ABC interview where Mr Abbott declares he left the seminary because he couldn’t face a life of celibacy has also been on high rotation.
He dug his own hole in Parliament yesterday when he declared an end to his much-discussed flirtation with deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who’d just admitted they’d spent a lot of time “chasing each other around.”
Cartoonist First Dog on the Moon yesterday Tweeted: “I am overwhelmed with all the lovely suggestions on how to draw abbott - you are all perverts btw.”
And I can’t tell you the number of plays on the word “election” there have been on Twitter, text and email in the past day and a half.
There’s an old saying that politics is just show business for ugly people, so maybe it’s not a bad thing for voter engagement if a bit of sex appeal is injected into the debate. (Lord knows no one’s accusing Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan of being distractingly attractive).
But it’s getting weird people. He’s the Leader of the Opposition.
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