Is Kevin Rudd the opposition leader and according to many pollsters the prime minister in waiting a fake? Or perhaps a flake? I used to think he’s a pretty decent guy. I once read an article where he exhorted Dietrich Bonheoffer as his hero. Dietrich Bonheoffer is a heavyweight in theology and was a brave and vocal critic of Nazi Germany. It was therefore quite something for Kevin Rudd, a labour leader, to openly admire him.

With recent developments however, I’m not so sure anymore – it is increasingly a case of a slick politician trying to pull one over as many as possible. He may have targeted that Dietrich Bonheoffer article at a specific audience to buy them over, without really believing it himself. Dietrich Bonheoffer would have had no hesitation in confessing Jesus as the Son of God. Kevin Rudd on the other hand, dithered and fluttered and hummed and hawed before stumbling over “I go to church regularly”.

That’s not good enough, Kevin. Don’t say you are a Christian just to get the Christian votes and by the same token, don’t deny Jesus is the Son of God just to get the non-Christian votes. If you stay true to a course, you may get the votes of those who don’t agree with your course but admire and support your courage in staying true and publicly stating your ground. By playing both sides, you may well end up losing both blocks of votes as neither want a fake flip they cannot trust. The fact that you rely so much on focus groups tell me you have a media management approach and would pander to whoever would deliver the most important numbers. That is not providing leadership; that is more marketing.

I would be taking a closer look, over the course of the next few weeks, at what Kevin Rudd has to offer. To a large extent, I already know what John Howard is all about. I may not agree with some of the things he does but at least I know what he is likely to do. With Kevin Rudd, the only certainty I have is that he changes his position all the time.