Kevin Rudd has grown enormously over the past three years. But a mystery remains. Either we never knew the real Kevin or he has changed significantly.
Public office carries with it enormous possibilities for personal growth. It can bring it the confidence that can transform any personality. It can bring the media publicity that shows some personal qualities to the world as well as the media spin that hides others.
With growth comes change. Rudd appears to have changed as his status has changed. If not we are coming to know the real Kevin as he emerges into the limelight. It is worth recalling how far he has come in so short a time.
He was relatively unknown as Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. He was ambitious, but still far from the leadership. He had withdrawn from the contest against Kim Beazley in early 2005, after Mark Latham had resigned, because he had so few supporters.
Rudd had a profile that needed building, but he was already known as a media tart willing to take part in any media interview. He was already Kevin 24/7.
One area in which he began to build an independent profile was on matters of religion. He came out publicly as an Anglican believer in the ABC Compass program 'Kevin Rudd and the God Factor' early in 2005. This put flesh on the bones of the technocrat. In October 2006 he published his now famous article 'Faith in Politics' in The Monthly magazine, naming Dietrich Bonhoeffer as his hero.
Rudd was still regarded primarily as a policy wonk and bureaucrat. But he was growing. He decided to become a regular on Sunrise, the Channel Seven breakfast program, and was a great success in that relaxed, jokey environment.
The next step was beating Kim Beazley in December 2006. He still had fewer supporters than Julia Gillard. But he was electable whereas Gillard, from the Left and a woman to boot, was not. So Rudd claimed the top spot.
Few thought that Rudd was any more than promising. But by the first opinion poll he was a mile in front and stayed there. The Kevin 07 phenomenon had arrived.
Rudd the Opposition Leader generated biographies which filled in important gaps about his family, academic and diplomatic background. However there was still a lot more to know about him.
Some said he lacked warmth. That