Will 2013 be the year of the moral politician?

Will 2013 be the year of the moral politician? NO (Will 2013 be the year of the moral politician?, January 19).

Voters already know that politicians play games with the meaning of words and promises...core and non core promises which a leader today might make and the next leader will repudiate. In reality our political leaders are really a Chairperson/ mouthpieces of the Board they call the Cabinet which is expousing what policies the Cabinet wants to promote yet the leaders are used as pawns to give the perception of difference or individuality from the Cabinet in the publics eyes imo. These elected/ appointed leaders of the Board/Cabinet are generally those who are very good communicators and have the best command of english language to sell a policy to the potential voters at election time.
Imo the ALP has a natural advantage because its voter base are more in number and who are made to feel they are battlers and need the union muscle behind the party to extract more tax from the HAVES to redistribute to them via social welfare and other programs of most benefit to them. Its easier for the ALP to promise more giving than the Liberal Party who are perceived as financially tight fisted.
The Liberal voter on the other hand probably feel cheated that they are paying an unfair share of the tax burden and want to generally pay less but still enjoy the benefits of MediCare and other welfare benefits and would want politicians to break any increase in tax promises. In reality when one tax goes, another tax by another name or scale is introduced to give the perception of a promise fulfilled.
Most voters already know that most of our politicians mean well and believe in the same things which are considered todays morality but they will never expect or imo always even want politicians to tell the truth when it comes to trying to win a majority of seats in the Parliament when each side is trying to score extra votes (Will 2013 be the year of the moral politician?, January 19).

"Voters deserve better". Can't argue with that.
But the media bears a lot of the responsibility for the quality of discourse. It has a huge role in deciding the political issues of the day which will get coverage (Will 2013 be the year of the moral politician? January 19).
The media prefers highlighting the salacious and the personal (eg "Julia, you've got a big arse") over what is sees as the tedium of policy analysis. Even when a "gate" it has been beating up over a number of months is found to have no legs, the media lets it drop without properly scrutinising the role of those that orchestrated the scandal/shock/fraud in the first place. Instead, it then moves on in search of a different sensation. No wonder the mud slinging is so widespread as there is little incentive for restraint. The most recent example is Ashbygate/Slippergate. While the Daily Telegraph is at the forefront of this type of "journalism", others have also been wanting. A chronicle of the Telegraph's treatment of this story can be found at: http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/the-ashbygate-conspiracy-of-silence/ .
I note that the Business Spectator has now joined the Daily Telegraph in the News Limited stable. I hope this will not be an impediment to your focus being on the enhancement of moral, economic and political leadership rather than the sensational.

How very noble of you Mitchell. A glaring omission in you piece is the fact that we, the electorate, have come to expect a lot more form government than we are prepared to give, we have indulged in a somewhat toxic culture of entitlement and any morality has long gone for the political arena, the political class in fact is a reflection of the people they lead (Will 2013 be the year of the moral politician? January 21).

Thinking people have been waiting for the words, POLICIES, MORALS & ETHICS to enter the Politicians vocabulary for well over the last 20+ years, not only in Australia but a number of Western Countries. Journalists seem to opinonate well after the trends start in certain sectors of Society? (Will 2013 be the year of the moral politician? January 18.)

The year just past offered the sobering scene of our politicians behaving like two tribes of hyperactive monkeys throwing unpleasant missiles at each other - the stickier the better.
Many of us will be hoping to see a change. But are we perhaps overly optimistic? Most of the monkeys will be returned to the cage but can they be trusted to do anything other than swap roles? (Will 2013 be the year of the moral politician?, January 21).

If I hear one more media pundit essentially call for 'moral leadership' from both majors I'll fair choke to death. As much as the MSM has been acutely embarrassed by their favourite flavoured Govt, one Tony Abbott is not singularly responsible for their annus horribilis, nor the acute stench that arose from the Treasury benches all year (Will 2013 be the year of the moral politician? January 18).
It is essentially the job of an Opposition to point out the shortcomings of the incumbent, not their fault that the task is made so easy sitting back in reclining chairs. The reclining chairs and popcorn came out early with the Rudd Gillard spill sideshow and sadly for voters there was no reason to fold them away all year. The pundits just don't or won't get it, but I'm not quite sure which just yet.