In America, the political scientists are trying to attract the NASCAR dads—the sort of guys who are fans of racing cars. ‘NASCAR dads’ was once used to describe small-town and rural men. It is used now to describe blue-collar men who have switched their basic loyalties from Democrat to Republican in recent years. About 55 per cent of American voters belong to the working or middle class group who lack a university degree. These men and women, particularly the men, are the real swing voters. Ruy Teixeira and Joel Rogers, in their book, Why the Working Class Still Matters, say that ‘their loyalties shift the most from election to election and in so doing determine the winners in American politics’.
John Howard would call them aspirational voters. He’d go easy on the phrase ‘working class’, because, as a Labor person once said, the only thing that unites the Australian working class is the desire to get out of it. Increasingly, however, it votes for him. And what John Howard says and does is, generally, far better pitched at this constituency than anything Labor is saying or doing.
See John Howard elbowing aside Governors-General at every function of national importance—whether it’s the cricket, the Rugby World Cup, barbecues for President George W. Bush, welcome-homes to the troops, or funerals and the dedication of memorials. Watch him appropriate phrases that once seemed to belong to the Labor party—mateship, fair dinkum, a fair go, fair play, a classless society and an egalitarian streak. Watch him fight the history wars by capturing and reinventing (usually in death) the nation’s heroes—the Weary Dunlops, the Don Bradmans, the Alex Campbells or the R.M. Williamses. All the better if there’s a horse in the background. Or a bit of khaki, since Australians have a simple love of country, a sense of duty and are selfless in looking out for their mates when there’s work to be done. They’re impatient with bureaucracy, red tape and procedure and are focused on getting things done. These are rugged individualists, loyal and dependable, if larrikins at times, and very cynical about politicians, but essentially, indeed quintessentially, Australian.
He would be too modest to say so, but he’s a bit like that himself. A simple man without much side. Loved his mum. Loves his wife and adores his kids. Loves his sport—can think of nothing better than watching the cricket. Went to the local high