Political Stir-fry: 6 things that happened on the campaign trail today.

By MAMAMIA NEWS

1. The Daily Telegraph wins the Sledgehammer of Subtlety award today for their front page.
They have bucked the historical trend of keeping quiet on pre-election endorsement of a party until the week of the actual poll. Instead they’ve decided to give you a teeny-weensy hint about, which way they think you should vote…

2. Speculation about why the Prime Minister chose 7 September for the poll has gone from interested indulgence to absolutely bloody madness. Has he waited too long, would August 31 have left the ALP in a better position to claim victory? Should he have waited longer, with an October election giving him more time to re-establish himself as PM. Or perhaps he just likes the fact that the number 7 rhymes with his name.

The election date also defies the unwritten rule that in Australia footy trumps everything. The poll will be on the same day as a very important rugby game between the Wallabies and the Springboks; cue criticism of Rudd for being UN-AUSTRALIAN.

3. Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s Communications Director John McTernan is having fun throwing grenades on Twitter. He send the following tweet to the Opposition’s Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey.

4. Rudd announced the election date from the traditional venue of Parliament House’s Prime Minister’s Courtyard. Interestingly, this is the first time Rudd has held a press conference at this venue, since he was first deposed as Prime Minister back in 2012.

5. The ALP hates three-word-slogans. Except for their own.

The Australian Labor Party are not fans of Tony Abbott. Why? Because he’s been smashing them around the proverbial political park for several years now, armed with nothing but three-word slogans. Think ‘stop the boats’, ‘end wasteful spending’ and ‘cut the taxes’.

“I don’t think we will hear from Mr Abbott tonight his real plans. This is a man for three-word slogans,” said former Treasurer Wayne Swan on the eve of Mr Abbott’s Budget Reply on 16 May 2013.

‘Three-word slogans are not a substitute for policy” former Trade Minister Craig Emerson complained on 31 January this year.

But now the ALP has its very own three-word-slogan, unveiled by Mr Rudd yesterday: A New Way.

That’s right. Mr Rudd criticised the Opposition leader with “three word slogans don’t solve complex problems – they never have, and they never will”, while announcing a three-word-slogan. Face. Palm.

Surely they could have managed to squeeze another word in there. JUST ONE. We have a few suggestions… A Brand New Way. A New Way Again. A Newer Way Than Julia. Or Mamamia’s Rogue’s suggestion of A New Way, Bitchez.

6. The Big Spender of the day is the ALP, who have announced $450 million to expand before and after school care programs. Minister Kate Ellis says that Labor will share the funding between up to 500 schools, so that they can offer more flexible opening hours, more child care places for school aged kids and better programs. The Prime Minister has pointed out that this means kids will be able to throw balls and put them in hoops, which is of course, most excellent news.

What else have you seen in election news, that you’d like to talk about?