Modesty is no virtue

Victorians go to the polls on November 29 and the auguries are not good for Premier Denis Napthine and his Coalition. Quadrant contributor Steve Kates, writing at Catallaxy Files, sees a lesson for Abbott & Co., also lagging in the polls:

“…in Victoria and federally, the Coalition has run rings around their Labor predecessors. Here in Victoria we have had three years of ultra-boring but very competent government. No dramas, no screw-ups just no-frills governance. Labor left behind its desal plant and Myki ticketing which are billions of dollars forms of waste for which no serious explanation for the expenditure has ever been forthcoming …. but in about ten days they will apparently become the former government of Victoria, the first in more than sixty years to lose after only one term….

….here’s the thing. In the modern era – probably in every era – a government must campaign throughout its entire period in office. Labor, in the same way as Obama, never stopped campaigning even if the product was useless and only did harm. The Coalition, on the other hand, is slowly but surely putting things right across a very broad front. Yet just doing the right thing is clearly not enough. Putting your case before the public … is a crucial part of governance. No whinging, no whining, just explaining is what is required.”

If Napthine does indeed go belly-up, Liberals at the federal level might wish to pay particular attention to the autopsy.

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