Polling after misogyny speech

"Come the election, people won't be voting on misogyny and things of that nature"
Eric Abetz on the Q&A program last night. 

Fuck I laughed when he said that. Perhaps he could say that to my daughter. She despises Abbott for what he said in parliament that the gov should have "died of shame". She's never followed politics before at all. Yet she's watched more than once the Gillard misogyny ripping-Abbott-a-new-asshole speech. She reckons he well and truly deserved it and shouldn't have said it. (BTW it's well over 2 million views now).

He's completely misjudging the effect that speech has had. Whether it will change votes is a different matter, but there's no doubt Gillard has struck a major chord with it. It's shown her substance and tenacity, one might even say bravery in saying those things the way she did in front of the entire nation. 

Abbott however seems oblivious to it all (not unusual) and is still banging on about something that no one cares about anymore. The carbon tax is a complete non issue now. The more he goes on about it, the more it makes him look stupid. The boy who cried wolf. But it's worse now as he's claiming that people are concerned about it when they're not. The scare tactic has failed and he doesn't seem to realise it. Either that or he's got nothing left in the ammunition. 

So it's no surprise then that the polls are showing significant movement back to the Gillard Labor gov. I don't vote Labor, being a Greenie, but you'd have to say it's been an extraordinary turnaround. Abbott's carbon tax end of the world gained traction because it was little understood and the gov seemed incapable of explaining it. Only last June, just before the introduction of the tax, Abbott and his merry band of coalition MP's, were 16 points clear of Gillard (and her dejected lot).

Now, for the second time in it's last 3 polls, Newspoll (commissioned BTW for the conservative Australian newspaper) shows the two parties even at 50/50. And here is the story since the last election:

Interactive of it here. 

The gov, if it's too survive next years election, cannot live on misogyny alone (Abbott staying leader would also be a big help). But my guess is that misogyny will play a roll. It fits perfectly into Abbott the conservative Catholic with ideas outdated in today's Australia. I know for sure at least one person who will be voting on misogyny; my daughter.