The Wire

Results of a poll published in Fairfax newspapers today show that the once-record high levels of support enjoyed by Kevin Rudd have now completely evaporated. As labor strategists pick through the damaging poll results they might be wondering if Kevin Rudd, once their greatest asset, has become a liability. Fairfax journalist David Marr is the author of the latest Quarterly Essay, a piece on Kevin Rudd’s motivations, and his political journey. Marr says that Rudd’s Labor convictions are genuine, arise from the circumstances of his difficult childhood. He says that at Kevin Rudd’s core is a deep anger. I asked David Marr why someone driven by such a passionate anger so often resorts to the dispassionate language of bureaucracy.