Julia Gillard may have performed better in election campaign than Kevin Rudd, say key Labor Party figures
MINISTERS and Labor factional powerbrokers are openly questioning whether Julia Gillard would have done a better job than Kevin Rudd as panic rises within the Government over its faltering campaign.
Despite Mr Rudd yesterday insisting he could still pull off a surprise win, his own ministers are quietly airing complaints about the Prime Minister and his closest adviser Bruce Hawker's strategic decision-making.
One minister warned Labor's campaign lacked depth and was simply based on a failed "mythology" that Mr Rudd's celebrity would see voters flock back to Labor.
"The mythology of Kevin that is contradicted by fact is that his popularity will lift all votes," a minister said.
"The notion that it could just be about Kevin was complete and utter nonsense."
Just two months since the Labor Party dramatically switched its leader, some senior members of the Government are now complaining that Ms Gillard would have performed better than Mr Rudd.
The minister said Ms Gillard would have slowly improved Labor's vote, while under Mr Rudd it soared and then plummeted.
"One of the questions that will be asked is would Gillard have met Rudd on the way down? In the end, we'll never know," the source said.
"She made mistakes, no doubt, and she made mistakes under pressure. But she was much cooler under pressure and she coped with a greater intensity."
A second minister said some Labor MPs who advocated Mr Rudd's return should be wondering whether they made the right call.
Asked if marginal seat MPs would have had a better chance under Gillard, the minister said "they're too frightened to ask that question".
Another senior Labor source said Mr Rudd's election campaign was "off message", was "not sticking with the theme each week" and "the PM seems rattled, disorganised".
As disenchantment about Labor's election campaign increases, blame is being sheeted home to Mr Rudd and Mr Hawker.
"Kevin wakes up with a bright idea. Bruce agrees with him and it happens," one senior party source said.
"The rest of the party is left in the wake of a decision made by Kevin. That is not the way you should run an election campaign."
Common complaints about Mr Rudd include that he has announced policies without consulting key campaign operatives and he has not stuck with key themes.
Some say he started negative attacks on Mr Abbott too soon and wasted too much time attacking the media in a way that looked "petulant".
One Labor powerbroker said the party would be better off without their reborn leader: "The dream outcome would be for us to marginally win and for Kevin to lose."
Even one of the MPs who were instrumental in Mr Rudd's rise to power now admit his performance had been "patchy".
But the senior Rudd supporter defended the leadership change, saying the new Prime Minister's lowest two-party-preferred vote in the polls of about 47 per cent was close to Ms Gillard's best result.
Poor Labor, they can't even get their assasinations right let alone run a country. Its embarassing to say the least. Shortens head must be exploding. 
