Spin Doctors

Are you getting better at distinguishing between political spin and substance? You probably are given the growing number of Federal Government examples!

How can you distinguish between spin and substance? Well, it’s fairly simple when you can spot the obvious signs.

First up, you have the grandiose statement. Some examples include: “we are going to have a tough petrol cop on the beat, ensuring that motorists are not paying a cent more than they have to at the bowser”, “the greatest moral challenge” and “building the education revolution”.

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A couple of years ago in one of his excellent machine-gun sprays Paul Keating lamented the emergence of a new class of political leaders who wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning unless they had focus group research telling them to do so.

The jibe was aimed at the thinness and timidity of what was then the Kevin07 juggernaut. This new political glibness was again in evidence during this year’s campaign, reaching a low point with Julia Gillard’s “moving forward” slogan, a catchline so dead in meaning that The Real Julia had it euthanased.

The debate over the rise of focus groups, spin and message management in modern politics is now being conducted vigorously within the ALP.  Labor heavyweight John Faulkner used this week’s launch of the excellent book by former NSW Minister Rodney Cavalier on the shambles that is NSW Labor to take aim at what has been called “the NSW disease‟.

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