http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/nick-leys/ Nick Leys has been declared the finest writer of his generation by his peers, a title he finds he cannot shake or avoid. After several years in Sydney working for The Australian and The Sunday Telegraph, Leys is now embedded with The Herald Sun where he is trying to establish why people in Melbourne have such a big chip on their shoulder. He likes scones, cleanskins and thinks It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is the benchmark for modern journalism. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-election-campaign/ IF you happened to be walking through the Eastland shopping centre in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs on Friday morning, you might have witnessed a bit of old school political campaigning. Eastland is at the heart of Ringwood and Ringwood is at the heart of Deakin, the second most marginal seat in Victoria, currently held by a sharpish young bloke from the Labor party, Mike Symon. Friday was a big day for Mike. He opened his new campaign digs, inflated several hundred balloons bearing his name and handed out ham and cheese sandwiches with a grin. And for just a short while, he got to bask in the tanning salon kissed glow of a Labor big gun, on loan to kick things along in a seat looking a bit shaky. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Nick Leys) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-election-campaign/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-election-campaign/#item3633 Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:37:57 +0000 Nick Leys | Author bios | The Punch