Politics is a funny old game in which the smiles can be forced and the loyalties, too loudly professed. or signup to continue reading Many crave personal validation, their competitive egos propelling them ever upwards unburdened by policy depth or philosophical commitment. Some reach the very top and go on to do not much of consequence.
Rarely do they leave on their own terms. Occasionally, though, there are exceptions, actual reformers. Politicians with purpose, even heart.
wanted to be one of these. brings a reassessment of his contribution, and I would argue, invites a reflection on the mediation of our politics. An examination that exposes the cynicism normalised by political coverage itself.
By his own admission, Shorten has seen extraordinary highs and lows in his 17 years in federal politics. Yet, he insists, . Other reviews are less uniformly effervescent, citing his mover-and-shaker role in Labor's disastrous leadership changes between 2007 and 2013.
They note, too, that as leader in 2019, he overreached, snatching defeat from the jaws of a certain Labor victory. However, if this was a political sin, it was hardly a moral one. Nor his alone.
When he entered the Federal Parliament in the 2007 "Ruddslide", it was amid high expectations. Some talked of a future Labor leader (which turned out to be true) and there was even the odd (which wasn't). Perhaps it is unsurprising that in all that "destiny" stuff, he got a little ahead of himself.
But then who, once in their 50s.