why federal Labor (nearly) lost the last election?

I was recently going through my archives (and thought bubbles) and found some musings on why I thought Gillard nearly lost the Federal election in August last year (after toppling Rudd just weeks earlier). So I've reproduced them below;

• Rudd was a control freak who essentially ran a 4 person government, disrespecting the conventions of cabinet govt and Westminster principals, while taking the advice of twenty something know it all punks in the PM's office instead of your cabinet and wider party room was always a recipe for disaster
• In the aftermath of the GFC criticizing the "neo liberal" economy and the sectional interests that support it was straight out of Chomsky (although heavily disguised)
• Rudd's "anti Israel" comments, although justified and completely common sense, must've sent shock waves through the pro Israel Labor Right factional warlords and their henchmen
• Rudd's support for an Australian manufacturing industry....which bordered on protectionism, must've been seen as a heresy of the highest order in elite circles
• The big killer however was dropping the ETS, in that one moment Rudd just gave away all his "street cred" on climate change....and I said at the time
• the whole insulation scheme cock up however was nothing but a huge beat up and meaningless on its own as an election issue
• The Murdoch press can gloat now (especially The Australian), as they almost single handedly tore apart a first term Labor PM with record approval ratings. Their ability to chip away at any perceived govt negative and play it up for all its worth was really something that should be studied by scholars, politics and media students
• And the biggest reason of all in my view....by knocking off a first term PM, no matter how hard you try to spin it, is an admission of failure and gives the electorate the justification it requires to reject the govt at the election

Rudd ended with:''That's why we have governments … to intervene when we have a market failure … That's why we are an activist government. We can't provide nirvana, we can't provide utopia … but we can and will make a real difference!''