Although I loathe Today Tonight, I was magically attracted by last night’s side-by-side interview with Howard and Costello. It showed three clear things:

1. Howard’s feeble attempt to convey an image of mateship and unity between him and Costello, by constantly looking at him for affirmation, calling him a “mate” and claiming that he would make “an excellent prime minister”. It was effusive, gushing and downright nauseating.
2. Costello’s barely-hidden contempt for Howard. In contrast to the Dessicated Coconut’s admiring gazes in his own direction, Costello barely looked at his offsider throughout the interview, and seemed to grate his teeth at a couple of Howard’s remarks. He praised the PM’s “work ethic” but didn’t take the mutual back-slapping contest much further than that.
3. Anna Coren’s vapid interviewing. No difficult questions (”Has the PM stayed on too long?” “Why won’t you invite Mr Costello to dinner?” etc.) and too many free hits that allowed party-political speeches. And the odd idiotic statement, like “Alan Greenspan, who ran the world economy…”. Norman Gunston could have conducted a more probing and revealing interview.