Spare a thought for the Victorian Liberal Party. Their political tactic of “being a pack of slobbering jackals” throughout the pandemic has failed to gain a foothold with the Victorian public, despite the unblinking support of both Murdoch-backed media and the Federal Government. And it’s a failure of such miserable proportions that opposition leader Michael O’Brien now sports an overall approval rating of just 15%.
The truly damning polls emerged yesterday via Ipsos, showing that O’Brien – who even after all this time, many may still struggle to identify as the Victorian opposition leader – is carrying the dizzyingly low approval rating after his performance throughout Melbourne’s second wave. Even LNP supporters polled returned just a 27% rating of approval for him.
Conversely, despite taking a battering in the press and facing tough but fair scrutiny over the hotel quarantine debacle, Premier Dan Andrews own approval rating still sits at a healthy 52%. And that’s only likely to rebound back now that Melbourne is beginning to open up once again.
However for Michael O’Brien – the wet Chux of Victorian politics who chooses to never dry – it’s an absolute smashing.
For months the opposition leader has offered little more than divisive, cowardly political sniping against every Government decision. Victorians desperate to hear some sort of sound alternate lockdown plan have instead been delivered what amounts to deliberate contrarianism, or big pissy whinging.
Attaining a 15% approval rating is some sort of achievement in its own right. It practically requires dedicated effort to suck at your job that much.
And yet even this morning the Victorian Liberal Party seems unwilling, or unable, to grasp how and why they’ve shit the bed to this extent.
Fronting media after yesterday’s borderline-euphoric announcement of eased restrictions from Andrews, O’Brien was unwavering in his commitment to acting the absolute fool.
When asked about his 15% approval rating, O’Brien batted it away by stating “I make absolutely no apology for standing up for Victorians who’ve been hurt by the second wave.”
Of course the irony there is that this morning’s press conference saw O’Brien speak while standing in the middle of an accessible parking spot, temporarily blocking its use.
Opposition Leader @michaelobrienmp shrugs off poor polling that puts his approval at just 15% “I make absolutely no apology for standing up for Victorians who’ve been hurt by the second wave” @9NewsMelb #springst pic.twitter.com/cdo6CWxkCT
— Andrew Lund (@andrew_lund) October 26, 2020
The visual metaphor there? Fairly spectacular, if you ask me.
