Australian Elections Close

Right about now Aussies are going to the polls to either re-elect the Conservative government of John Howard, or elect a center-left party that is sure to upset relations with America. Howard has been among the staunchest of American allies and it would be a shame to see Australia go the way of Spain at a time when many other countries, like France and Germany, are getting back on board with the U.S. following idiotic leaders in the recent past.

The polls are close:

SYDNEY (AFP) — Besieged Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Friday his government could still snatch election victory from the jaws of defeat, as a last-minute poll showed him narrowing the gap on rival Kevin Rudd.

Less than 12 hours before 13.5 million Australians head to the ballot box on Saturday in an election Howard has long been tipped to lose, a Newspoll survey showed his government halving the lead held by the opposition Labor Party.

The survey of around 2,600 people to be published in The Australian on Saturday still showed centre-left Labor ahead in support, but only by 52 percent compared to 48 for Howard's 11-year-old conservative government.

Pollsters said the survey, which came a week after a Newspoll showed former diplomat Rudd ahead by a winning eight-point lead, reflected a major shift in the key states of Queensland and Western Australia.

The survey mirrored the results of a Galaxy poll published earlier Friday that also showed Labor just four points ahead, raising the prospect that the election could be a cliffhanger rather than the predicted landslide.

From what I read in the Aussie press the challenger is a bit of a limp wrist who just can't wait to pull the Aussie troops out of Iraq. In a comic turn right out of our own 2004 election some Aussies are threatening to leave the country if Howard's party wins (h/t Tim Blair):

The tension is too great for some Rudd fans, who’ve joined the leave-Australia threatfest:

If Beige Howard wins this election, I will have lost all faith in the political system and in the intelligence of the average Australian voter.
I hear that New Zealand is a nice place to live...

Another threatfester made her vow to the great Rudd himself:

"I’m so sick of John Howard’s lies and John Howard’s arrogance,” she told Mr Rudd.
"I’m going to leave the country if you don’t get in."

But Labor voter Victor Protheron, who met Rudd at the same supermarket, was underwhelmed:

"I didn’t know he shakes hands like a girl ..."

Stay tuned.