Risky faith from his best audience

Former Victorian premiers John Brumby, Joan Kirner, John Cain and Steve Bracks at the ALP’s campaign launch yesterday. Picture: Mike Keating

MOOD matters in politics and the general feeling among the faithful at yesterday’s Labor launch was that Victorian Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews is less than five weeks from victory.

Such a feeling is, of course, entirely premature and based on a number of assumptions, some of which are politically dangerous.

Andrews’s decision to make the launch all about education and service delivery is a key pointer to where Labor will take this ­campaign.

For the best part of four years, the Labor leader has played the role of political wrecker.

Now, however, Andrews wants to be seen to be a builder; a builder of education, a builder of better schools, a leader who will feed the hungry and send the children on camps and excursions.

Arguably Andrews’s biggest test will be whether he can segue from critic-in-chief to alternative premier, to — if he gets his way — premier of Victoria.

To do that, Andrews must not only build on his policy credentials but also win the vanity war with Premier Denis Napthine.

How each party leader presents over the next five weeks will go a long way towards deciding who will win office.

If Napthine has a seamless campaign and can wield his own wrecking-ball, then he stands a good chance of winning office by making Andrews appear to be a risk in uncertain times.

Conversely, if Andrews can shed his Spring Street image of negativity and opportunism, ­voters may well continue to warm to him.

To that end, Andrews did his job yesterday.

But, remember, this was the easiest audience of all.