Kevin Rudd has been fending off leadership questions this week as he increases his public exposure, such as on the Sunrise programme and in extended interviews with Sky News. My read of Rudd’s presentation is this: ‘It’s still, all about me’.
Rudd is tickled pink about the limelight froth around him. He’s reveling in his turns of phrase. For example, “jump in an ice bath”, “cryogenic storage”, “take a long cold shower”. This reveling is counterpointed with his playing a straight bat in denying his leadership aspirations.
Rudd has trained his voice, face and body language to be perceived and to convey him as a loyal supporter of Julia Gillard.
Despite this presentation there is an obvious, lurking feeling tone, that he would love to be Prime Minister again – if there was a way to conjure it.
Rudd’s playful, catty affect in media interviews this week and the subtext of his comments – for example: “I’m pretty happy about where I am” (subtext: “I’d be a lot happier if I was PM”); “It’s (the election year) is going to be tough and competitive (subtext: “it would be less tough if I was PM”) – convey his desire to get back the top job.
p.s You might be interested in my analysis of Rudd’s farewell press conference back in 2010 entitled ‘Kevin Rudd’s final speech – the mask falls.’ Here’s the link: http://www.kellyspeech.com.au/?s=kevin+rudd+the+mask+falls