While I had some sympathy for Tony Abbott following the initial furore over his "shit happens" comments regarding the death of an Australian soldier in Afghanistan - I mean after all shit does happen in a war zone, and there's no reason to doubt Abbott's sincerity over the death - his follow up deer in the spotlights interview see here was just about the most embarrassing thing I've seen from a major party leader since Alexander Downer's "things that batter" gaffe.
I would even go as far as to say that this is a career ending performance? A Beazley or a Turnbull may've survived that type of performance because they were at least considered politicians of substance, but Abbott has so many question marks against him already that he just couldn't afford such an embarrassment. For a man who's considered a dangerous ideologue and a bully, to do a Latham and look like you want to punch the reporter in the face is a horrible mis-step.
And this performance comes at a time when Abbott is defending the insensitive Liberal Party donation campaign to stop the flood levy (you know, any money you have to donate to a worthy cause, don't give it to the flood charity, donate it to us instead so we can use it to score political points).
So while the Prime Minister shakes off her wooden image with that cynical use of the flag as a prop in the Lower House (which undoubtedly will play well to the masses, but not with me), Abbott just comes across as nasty and mean spirited.
Like I've said previously, I don't expect either of them to be leading their parties at the next election.
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