'; ?> Perceptions of Julia Gillard | What The People Want
Perceptions of Julia Gillard
Sunday, 27 June 2010 18:47 | Written by Graham Young

Julia Gillard scores with voters for not being Kevin Rudd, for being a woman, and for being intelligent and a competent capable person. The vocabulary that voters use to describe her are all about the head, and not the heart. Is that what they are looking for from a woman politician, or is there an essential contradiction here?

The map looks a little "Thatcherite" to me. At the same time they are concerned that she shares blame for current problems and can't be trusted to fix them.

Leadership_June_2010_Gillard_Like

 

The portion of the map that deals with Rudd essentially seems to say that she is better than him because she is an effective communicator "speaks clearly". The characteristics that are associated with "Woman" are also about logic and speech "straight", "clear", "forthright". "Intelligent" is the largest theme. Again when respondents discuss her as a person it is logical unemotive words that dominate. "Humour" is close to the centre, but it is really the only humanising word that I can see.

The Leximancer Map below shows the hesitations that respondents had when thinking of voting for Gillard.

Leadership_June_2010_Gillard_Hesitate

There is concern from Labor voters that Gillard will not meet their expectations in terms of changing policies (although the theme change is mostly about "climate change"). At the centre of most concerns is that she is just another face on the same party. Liberal voters also worry about the union connection and whether she can be trusted. There is also concern about the democratic and practical problems with making a change before a general election. On the democratic side of things the concern is that changes of leadership ought to be made at an election, while practically the concern was that it was too close to the election and looked like panic.

Verbatims

"She has a passion for justice, she is highly intelligent, she has guts, and she has a sense of humour (unfortunately, I don't thinkKevin Rudd has one); she is clearly a very well-organized person, who is honest and realistic about the limitations having a political career makes on a woman's life."

 

"I think she is a very strong, intelligent, fiesty, aggressive person, and she will do well because she can actively relate to people in a way Rudd couldn't and Abbott can't"

 

"Her intelligence, her clear focus, her calm, confident manner and her ability to be inclusive of others."

 

"She comes over as a good communicator and a person with a ’warm touch’ while being able to withstand everything that is thrown at her politically."

 

"Julia has been a member of the current decision making team - the same team that had a mandate dictated by the election to tackle climate change, have a more compassionate policy towards asylum seekers and minimise the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians."

 

"Its not about Gillard but about the party who wont stand by its men and are more focused on winning than doing the job."

 

"Julia has been a member of the current decision making team - the same team that had a mandate dictated by the election to tackle climate change, have a more compassionate policy towards asylum seekers and minimise the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians."

She has a passion for justice, she is highly intelligent, she has guts, and she has a sense of humour (unfortunately, I don't thinkKevin Rudd has one); she is clearly a very well-organized person, who is honest and realistic about the limitations having a political career makes on a woman's life."
"I think she is a very strong, intelligent, fiesty, aggressive person, and she will do well because she can actively relate to people in a way Rudd couldn't and Abbott can't"
"Her intelligence, her clear focus, her calm, confident manner and her ability to be inclusive of others."
"She comes over as a good communicator and a person with a ’warm touch’ while being able to withstand everything that is thrown at her politically."
"Julia has been a member of the current decision making team - the same team that had a mandate dictated by the election to tackle climate change, have a more compassionate policy towards asylum seekers and minimise the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians."
"Its not about Gillard but about the party who wont stand by its men and are more focused on winning than doing the job."
"Julia has been a member of the current decision making team - the same team that had a mandate dictated by the election to tackle climate change, have a more compassionate policy towards asylum seekers and minimise the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians."

 

 

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Comments   

 
0 #1 Kevin Rudd will win anyway , Tony Abbott — Claire Parsons 2010-06-28 11:00
Kevin Rudd will win anyway , Tony Abbott is not a better alternative
 
 
0 #2 "The map looks a little "Thatcherite" to — Chokyi Nyingpo 2010-06-29 07:56
"The map looks a little "Thatcherite" to me."

Graham, would you explain what you mean here?
 
 
0 #3 What I mean is that her characteristics — Graham Young 2010-06-29 08:20
What I mean is that her characteristics are very masculine and not very feminine at all, like Thatcher's. Gillard seems to score not so much because she is female but because she acts like a man.
 
 
0 #4 Not what my mates and I think. We find h — Zak 2010-06-29 14:50
Not what my mates and I think. We find her very foxy, think you are reading into it what you personally think.
 
 
0 #5 What the word maps are supposed to indic — senexx 2010-06-29 17:04
What the word maps are supposed to indicate is not clear to me. Nor which one does what. The words are not particularly clear to me either, any chance they can perhaps be made a little larger.