John Howard won by a narrow margin in Australia with a swing of less than 2% and James Taranto immediately branded it as a defeat for al Qaeda as if the whole election was fought on that issue. Australia has only 800 odd troops in Iraq and they have not suffered any casualities.
The election was not a referendum on the Iraq war because the issue was buried by the Labor Party and the mass media. Despite the mountain of evidence showing that the war was based on lies, Howard was never challenged by opposition leader Mark Latham, who maintained that the issue of â??trustâ? centred on whether Howard was going to continue as prime minister for a full three-year term. The Labor Party dropped all reference even to Lathamâ??s previous comments that he would withdraw Australian troops by Christmas, and said nothing during the entire six-week campaign about the ongoing repression of the Iraqi population by US and other occupation forces. According to the Labor leader, Howardâ??s Iraq commitment was simply a â??mistake.â? Lathamâ??s position was echoed by the Greens, who by and large dropped criticism of the war as well. While the Greensâ?? vote went up by around 2.2 percent, attracting those seeking a â??leftâ? alternative to Labor, it turned out to be substantially less than they expected.[Australia: Howard government returned, courtesy of Labor]
What mattered was the economy and under Howard's leadership it gained steam and people voted for him for a fourth term.
On a side note, in Australia it is mandatory for all citizens to vote. Defaulters face a jail term.