Bush's Australian Ally May Be Forced Out

Australian Prime Minister John Howard, one of George Bush's main allies in Iraq, may lose his position following elections in that country. Some on the right are lamenting the loss saying he deserves to win because of his blind loyalty to the illegal, immoral Bush Oil War Against Iraq. Perhaps there is hope for the world after all.

When Australians go to the polls Saturday, two obstacles stand in the way of the four-term incumbent: the widespread perception that he's been in office too long, and a younger and fresher face that's ready to take his place.

His name is Kevin Rudd, and he's the new head of the Labor Party, a bookish former diplomat who speaks fluent Chinese and is married to a self-made multimillionaire.

Rudd has such a decisive lead in the polls that many believe his victory is assured.

"We have never seen opinion gaps as big or as persistent," said Brian Costar, a political scientist at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne. "People have been wanting for a while to find a reason to vote Howard out. They generally couldn't do it because of a lackluster Labor leadership. Along comes Rudd, who looks like a safe bet, and they've flocked to him."

For Rudd to take over the government, his party must grab at least 16 more seats in the 150-member lower house of Parliament. Polls show losses by Howard's coalition government could deliver Labor a comfortable margin, with the added embarrassment that the sitting prime minister could lose in his own seat in the legislature, something that has only happened once in Australian history, in 1929.

What's surprising is that the 68-year-old Howard, who heads the Liberal Party, might be on his way out despite a booming economy and an approval rating of about 47%.

"It's basically government fatigue," said Michael Fullilove, program director for global issues at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, a Sydney think tank. "They've been in there nearly 12 years. It's not really common for governments to last so long these days."