On bye-bye to John Howard the lap dog...

It's befitting and predictable that John Howard, the ex-Prime Minister of Australia, to lose the 2008 election. Howard sought, perhaps all too successful, in mirroring and emulating George W Bush in all of Bush's "policies" (if you can call it that) and directions for Australia, setting the country on wrongful path. Thankfully for global growth that pushes commodity prices to new highs that benefit Australia's economy, Howard erroneously believes that it's the economy, and the economy alone, that voters would go along with him, even though they disagree with him on all other major policies like his refusal to join Kyoto Protocol for climate change, and his staunch support of the war in Iraq.

For parliamentary system like Australia or United Kingdom, the 10 year mark is almost like a threshold for a Prime Minister's hanging onto power. If we recall how Margaret Thatcher had been successful during her times, but still got pushed out after similar length of prime ministership.

Howard should realize all too clearly by now that it's not only the voter weariness of him being in the PM role for too long, but that voters do not agree with him on policies as well, witnessed by losing of his parliamentary seat in the same election. It shows how a long tenure in an ivory tower can render him so out-of-touch with the mass.