Rupert Murdoch has done his part to ensure the ouster of Australian prime minister John Howard, who's been toiling as the sad prison-island's leader since time immemorial. In a canny feat, Murdoch sent New York Post editor Col Allan out to Scores with Kevin Rudd—he's the opposition leader down in Australia, and is now expected to win the 2007 election. "Mr Rudd admitted visiting Scores and said he had been too drunk to remember much of what had happened," says the Guardian. Then Rudd got reprimanded for manhandling strippers and got booted. For Australian men, this is like scoring the winning goal of a soccer match or shooting the biggest kangaroo or something. He will now receive nearly all of the heterosexual male vote. How can we tell it's a counterintuitive and sophisticated campaign to manage the election? The trip to Scores happened four years ago and is just being revealed now—in Murdoch's papers. Good work, Rupe!

Strip club visit hurts Australian party leader [Guardian]

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