November 24
It’s on, and if you’re not enrolled yet, you’ve only got until Wednesday, due to the rules changes recently passed.

I kind of thought Howard might have pushed for a later date, but 24/11 has been tipped for a while now, and it was only the Man of Steal (oops, “Steel”) playing games that left it so uncertain so long. Picking up the Sunday paper to see he’d flown down to Canberra might only have meant he was going early for the recall of Parliament, instead of meeting with the Governor General for its dissolution, although the headlines made it quite clear what to expect by lunchtime.

Since the campaign’s been underway for some weeks already, it’s going to be interesting to see what happens next. How negative will it be? The Liberal party brochure is surprisingly full of stabs at Labor, rather than focussing on the accomplishments of the Coalition and outlining policy for a return to government. But the technical issues are just as interesting to me, as a new(ish) voter. After all, despite the polling on “preferred Prime Minister,” when we vote, we mark the ballot for the preferred party.

I reckon Howard’s in real trouble. The Coalition may retain government, but Howard’s own seat is imperilled. And the polling is substantially in favor of Labor overall.