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| Subject: Howard's wizard of Oz | |
Author: David (Australia) | [ Next Thread |
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] Date Posted: 13:25:21 11/16/04 Tue Profile By Brian Wheeler BBC News political reporter Political strategists are often portrayed as shadowy svengalis, wielding huge power and influence over their elected masters. But even by these standards, Lynton Crosby, the man the Conservatives have hired to help them win the next general election, comes with a reputation. The 48-year-old has been described as a "master of the dark political arts" and "the Australian Karl Rove," a reference to George Bush's legendary campaign adviser. In 2002, Australian newspaper The Age described Mr Crosby as "one of the most powerful and influential figures in the nation". His reputation is built on masterminding four successive general election victories for Australian Prime Minister John Howard. 'Slick political machine' Mr Howard, of the Liberal Party, the nearest Australian equivalent of the UK's Conservative party, returned from the political wilderness in 1996 to defeat Labour's Paul Keating. He went on to win a further three elections, with Mr Crosby involved in key campaigning roles. Mr Howard hopes to emulate his Australian namesake Mr Crosby quit the Liberal Party of Australia last year and had been expected to take up lucrative work in the private sector. But he has been lured to the Conservative cause by the prospect of engineering a similar comeback for Michael Howard, who not so long ago was languishing on the back benches. "I think there are many similarities with John Howard," Mr Crosby told The Times newspaper last year. "We had Keating running a very slick political machine. But the glitz and the glamour can only last so long. Ultimately, you have to deliver." Whatever tactics he chooses to deploy in the UK, Mr Crosby, who will work alongside Tory co-chairman Liam Fox, is certain to want a tough, highly-focused election campaign. He is known for his aggressive style and his willingness to "go negative". He reportedly made quite an impression when he made a presentation at a shadow cabinet bonding weekend last year. According to one report, then shadow chancellor Michael Howard's "eyes lit up" as Mr Crosby screened a television ad showing Paul Keating making a remark he later had to withdraw. This has led to speculation the Tories will attempt to skewer Tony Blair on "trust" at the next election. Localised campaigning What Mr Crosby does best, according to one journalist who has watched him at close quarters, is "below the radar" campaigning. That is, the ruthless targeting of marginal constituencies with highly localised campaigning, latching on to local issues and personalities. The key to winning election campaigns is building a good team...and having a leader who knows what he's on about Lynton Crosby This even stretches to calling up voters individually - or, better still, having the party leader or other senior figures man the phones. "This has been a highly effective tactic," says one Australian journalist, who asked not to be named. "The Liberal Party have whipped Labour's butt in marginal seats. They have wiped them out." Swing voters The Conservatives have already set up a call centre in the West Midlands - close to its target seats and away from the Westminster village - with a similar purpose in mind. The party has imported Voter Vault computer software from the US, where it was used by the Republicans to store information on voters. It claims to identify people likely to vote Tory from their spending habits and other information. The party hopes to use it to target about 400,000 swing voters in key marginals. Critics say the Tories has been forced to go down this route because they are short of activists willing to pound the streets, but Labour has set up a similar call centre in North Shields. The Australian journalist said: "The biggest effect Lynton will have is his professionalism. "The Australian Liberal Party have a very professional campaign structure. "If Lynton achieves nothing else, he will get the Conservative party machine working more effectively. "That means effective media monitoring, responding quickly, not letting any of the issues get away from them." 'Playing hardball' He will also tell Michael Howard to "stand up for what you believe in, let people know what you stand for, who you are". "John Howard is a conviction politician - and I think Lynton will want to steer Michael Howard in that direction", added the journalist. In a rare interview with The Age two years ago, Mr Crosby said: "The key to winning election campaigns is building a good team, having clear central lines of authority while implementing your campaign in as decentralised away as possible, and having a leader who knows what he's on about." He may have been compared to Karl Rove, but Mr Crosby's fondness for "playing hardball" with journalists - and his habit of firing off letters of complaint to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation - will remind many in Westminster of someone a little closer to home. They've had a long search, but could the Tories have finally found their very own Alastair Campbell? [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| [> Subject: Children overboard? | |
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Author: Ian (Australia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 17:47:43 11/16/04 Tue It is ironic that John Howard's spin man might help another Howard run a campaign based on "trust". Trust has not exactly been Little John's strongest suit. If the Tories get a spot of professionalism into their ranks, however, that can only be a good thing. The last thing you need is a backstabbing opposition to let the government get away with anything they can think of. I am glad that we export something a bit more hard-hitting than "Neighbours", though. Maybe we should draft this Crosby fella into the Wallabies' front row... [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> Subject: TV | |
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Author: Dave (UK) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 15:59:53 11/18/04 Thu Ah Neighbours - it is strange why it is so popular here. I figure that it offers some harmless escapism from the home-grown soaps such as Eastenders, where the characters compete to display new depths of misery and anger. I suggest that if the BBC wishes to make their flagship soap any more depressing, they ought to shoot it in monochrome. Neighbours on the other-hand shows an idealistic suburban life where everyone gets along, spends most of their time in each other's houses, sipping coffee and getting a sun-tan. This is a far-cry from Blighty, where neighbours are barely on speaking terms, and often taking one another to court. This leads me to an altogether more serious point: TV seems to be another manifestation of our cultural links. We in Britain can’t get enough of Australian soaps, and the ABC schedule in Australia looks like that of BBC One six months ago. Can this be just coincidence, or is there something greater at work here? [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> Subject: parents always like to hear news from the kids that left home | |
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Author: Ian (Australia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 18:38:23 11/18/04 Thu and the kids end up reflecting their parents's values, whether they admit it or not. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> Subject: I sent Michael Howard an e-mail on the strength of this Australian connection | |
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Author: Ian (Australia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 18:12:00 11/16/04 Tue I said that the Tory policies on the EU seem a little lukewarm, that I would like to see a commitment to leaving the EU, returning to EFTA and setting up free trade between the CANZUK countries, and that I hope the Lynton Crosby connection will help bring us closer. Even just getting the acronym "CANZUK" into people's heads is a start, I think. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> Subject: You'll probably get... | |
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Author: Dave (UK) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 15:21:55 11/18/04 Thu ...a generic response outlining the benefits of Australians. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> Subject: my hope is merely that he will see the acronym CANZUK | |
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Author: Ian (Australia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 16:00:59 11/18/04 Thu and maybe in the future he will see it again and think "wait a sec, this isn't the first time I've come across this idea". and maybe maybe he will remember that it was an aussie, not a little-englander or an empire-revisionist or a BNP thug that mentioned it the first time. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> [> Subject: ? | |
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Author: Ed Harris (Venezia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 16:19:52 11/18/04 Thu Is Lynton Crosby likely to talk about CANZUK with Michael Howard? I don't know much about the fellow except what was in the above article. If not, we should send him a letter. Although, of course, the trouble with writing to Conservative Central Office is that there is a rigid protocol for dealing with correspondence which has been in place since the consolidation of the party in the wake of the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685: A letter has to be filed, taken out of the file, photcopied in triplicate and put into three different files, locked in a filing cabinet, the key lost, then found again, the letters then taken out, lost, found again, lost, then buried in a peat bog and recycled as firelighters so that it comes to be read when the intended recipient is trying to get a good hearth-blaze going to insulate their office from London weather. Thank heaven for e-mail. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Well... | |
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Author: Dave (UK) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 16:40:14 11/18/04 Thu They've been photocopying since 1685? Who says the Conservatives are behind the times? Seriously though, we should send him an email at least... [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: we should indeed - does anyone have his address? | |
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Author: Ian (Australia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 18:35:23 11/18/04 Thu [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> [> Subject: ah, so you too have been influenced by the Douglas Adams school of sentence construction | |
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Author: Ian (Australia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 18:30:36 11/18/04 Thu [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Yep! | |
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Author: Ed Harris (Venezia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 23:25:01 11/18/04 Thu But PG Wodehouse is my other main style model, with Benjamin D'Israeli a close third. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |