Kevin Rudd is not enjoying the experience of John Howard putting the blow-torch to his belly, to use Neville Wran's evocative phrase. But much more is involved, from Rudd's point of view, than whether the ordinary voter will adopt Howard's confected indignation or ultimately conclude that a sanctimonious prig has been shown to be a mortal, human, and very ambitious politician.
The public does not much know Rudd, though he has been having a dream run since taking the Labor leadership. Much of what they do know is about his mind, and quite a bit of that they seem to like. They also know that he is a Christian – something he tells them all the time – although they so far have little idea what this means for him. But they have little feeling for his heart, his instincts, his character, the broad drift of his ideas or how he responds to pressure, and many will want to know more before they commit themselves to him. By contrast they know a lot about Howard, and even when they dislike what he has done, they are reasonably comfortable with him.
It was events, and luck, and nothing directly of the Prime Minister's doing that made Rudd's relationship with disgraced Labor politician and lobbyist Brian Burke the character test, but it is not a bad one. John Howard, and Peter Costello have been completely over the top in their indignation – and in their assertion that merely meeting Burke was some sign of moral unfitness for office. That overreach was accentuated by the forced resignation of Human Services minister, Ian Campbell, after it emerged that he had had contact with Burke – like any number of other politicians on both sides – long after it was clear that he was politically toxic.
Burke is especially on the nose, but there are any number of old political hacks – Labor and Liberal – who hawk their friendships, and their intimate knowledge of how systems work and are working: among those doing it are a number of Howard's old ministers. For many, the mere seeking of such work has involved breaches of commonly accepted views about abuse of power; for others, the fact that lobbying income ultimately turns on success is a continuing invitation to abuse of power.
Burke has sought to continue to run a political machine, one plainly available for hire,