Alpha1Nine :funkwhale: :sofia:<p>Australians have long memories in politics. Over the last 20 years, they have got to know the vibe of the <a href="https://aus.social/tags/Coalition" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Coalition</span></a> very well. They could sense that <a href="https://aus.social/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Trump</span></a> is king-pig at the end of slippery pigsty-slope inhabited by hard-right populists like <a href="https://aus.social/tags/Howard" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Howard</span></a>, like <a href="https://aus.social/tags/Abbott" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Abbott</span></a>, <a href="https://aus.social/tags/Morrison" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Morrison</span></a>, <a href="https://aus.social/tags/Dutton" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Dutton</span></a> and most of his Liberal National colleagues, particularly since the moderates lost to Teals, or to <a href="https://aus.social/tags/Liberal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Liberal</span></a> factional warring.</p><p>When Dutton worked out that his Trump-like politics might be problematic, he made a concerted effort to put away the <a href="https://aus.social/tags/MAGA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MAGA</span></a> hats. This attempt at pivoting was the reason the Coalition’s campaign looked like such a mess. Asking Dutton and his colleagues to hide their MAGA is like asking the Labor Party not to defend Medicare. Dutton tried <a href="https://aus.social/tags/backflipping" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>backflipping</span></a> from <a href="https://aus.social/tags/policies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>policies</span></a>, tried to stop talking about <a href="https://aus.social/tags/nuclear" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>nuclear</span></a>, worked to present a different face.</p><p>But ultimately, in the final two weeks, this shapeshifting became too hard and Dutton gave in to his base instincts. He dived back into the culture-warring like a pig in mud with his attacks on <a href="https://aus.social/tags/welcomeTocountry" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>welcomeTocountry</span></a> ceremonies and his <a href="https://aus.social/tags/preference" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>preference</span></a> deal with <a href="https://aus.social/tags/OneNation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>OneNation</span></a>. All this did was remind Australians how Trump-like he is. </p><p><a href="https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/coalitions-problems-far-greater-than-a-terrible-campaign,19705?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=IA_Feed" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">independentaustralia.net/polit</span><span class="invisible">ics/politics-display/coalitions-problems-far-greater-than-a-terrible-campaign,19705?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=IA_Feed</span></a></p>