An exclusive report published in the SMH this morning indicates that our distinguished PM of selfies, “cooking with gas” and other disingenuous Gen Y catchphrases previously never heard or said by anyone under the age of 25, Kevin Rudd, has hired three key members of the youth whispering campaign team which helped secure the reelection of noted cool person and President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.
The appointment comes after a concerted effort from Rudd to appeal directly to Gen Y voters, starting with his meandering inaugural address as zombie reinstalled PM of Australia in which he said completely ridiculous things like “rock around the place” and “cooking with gas”, the latter of which he justified by saying, “Most of my friends are young people… my three kids are my best
friends. As a result, their friends are my friends, and as a result you
come out with really trendy things like saying, ‘let’s cook with gas’.”
Sure thing, K-Rudd.
The reelection A-Team includes the following members of the Obama 2012 campaign staff.
TOM MCMAHON
– 18 years of experience as a key member of the U.S. Democratic Party.
– Has a track record of providing successful and progressive strategic advice, managing campaigns, overseeing fundraising operations, and training Democratic candidates at the federal, state, and local level.
– Former Executive Director of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005-2009.
– Graduated with a law degree from the University of Iowa.
– Worked previously for the Clinton administration, Al Gore’s office, the Department of Defense, and the U.S. Information Agency.
Key quote: “Democracy for America is one of the most exciting exercises in modern American politics, and there’s incredible potential to harness the enthusiasm of our supporters across the country to exact change at every level of government. Democracy for America represents exactly the vehicle of hope that this country needs to enact real change in America and to ensure progressive voices up and down the ticket.” 
JOON KIM
– Vice President of Washington based political consultancy firm New Partners.
– Instrumental in Obama’s historic Iowa caucus win.
– Served as “field director” of John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign.
– Has experience in budget management, strategic messaging, digital media strategy, voter contact development and the training, hiring and management of campaign staff.
– University of Maryland graduate with a degree in International Relations.
– Was a partner at Solidarity Strategies where he managed 14 campaigns in six states from 2010 to 2011, seven of which went on to win their elections.
Key quote: “As television viewership continues to move online it will force campaigns to be more creative about the use of advertising. Campaigns will no longer be able to compete point for point on television and will have to do a better job layering TV, radio, social media and social pressure to engage an audience.”
MATTHEW MCGREGOR
– Political Director at Blue State Digital.
– Credited with orchestrating U.S. President Barack Obama’s social media campaign.
– Dubbed Obama’s “digital attack dog” and the “backroom Brit”.
– Ran Obama’s ‘rapid response unit’ responsible for publicly shaming and rebutting statements made by then Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney often within minutes or hours after he made them.
– Key quote: “In 2008, Barack Obama changed digital campaigning forever. And last month, he did it again. Of course, when it comes to campaigns outside the U.S., the Obama team’s approach cannot merely be transplanted whole. Every country is different; each has a unique political culture and many have far lower levels of Internet penetration than the U.S. – a major hurdle to achieving what Obama for America did online.”
We very much hope that their first order of business as consultants is to find another way of saying “cooking with gas”. Maybe something like “riding the vibe wave”? I dunno. Y’all are the experts.
Via SMH
