SOAPBOX: Is this election deliberately boring?

IS IT just me or is this the most boring Federal Election campaign we’ve had in decades?

IS IT just me or is this the most boring Federal Election campaign we've had in decades?

Part of it must be that former PM Tony Abbott is largely absent from the campaign and, try as he might, Malcolm Turnbull just can't pump out a three-word slogan like Tony.

Part of it might also be deliberate, on Labor's part at least.

Its last big election win back in 2007 was built on the sense of hope created by Kevin Rudd and, while the ongoing leadership stoush and policy flip-flopping ultimately destroyed the government, entering office under such high expectations from the voting public didn't exactly make things easy either.

From a tactical viewpoint it might make sense for Labor and the Coalition to try to get through the campaign without getting anyone's hopes up too much, so to speak.

That low-bar approach might pay dividends for whoever actually wins the election, but it's also another slash in the death of a thousand cuts our democracy is being subjected to.

It's another way of ensuring the populace remains disengaged and disillusioned with the political process.

Ultimately that voter disengagement keeps our democracy from being the vibrant interactive form of government it was intended to be. Instead it has become the protected home of an entrenched party elite, granted enormous trust, and enormous rewards but comparatively little oversight given the roles they serve in.

Originally published as SOAPBOX: Is this election deliberately boring?