Talking up his chances. Ian Macfarlane had a little chat with Jon Faine on ABC Radio in Melbourne this morning – where he made this unfortunate slip of the tongue:

Macfarlane: I know the opposition talks about what they may do when they get into office or if they’re elected or when Kevin Rudd maybe becomes PM… I don’t know what they’re going to do when he becomes PM…

Faine: Did you say when he becomes prime minister?

Macfarlane: Well that’s up to the voters…

Faine: I just thought it was an curious choice of words… Intriguing.

Fingers pointing towards Canberra. Why are the NSW Liberals lagging so badly in both Newspoll  and AC Nielsen? Well, some desperate spin doctoring is pinning the blame on the federal Libs and their recent popularity slump. Or trying to, anyway.

Parrot tricks. Morning after morning, Alan Jones is launching tirades against the Iemma government. Morning after morning he is boosting Peter Debnam. But with today’s appalling polls for the Coalition – and with Jones’s U-turn in the 2003 election campaign – at what point will his editorial line change in an attempt to keep his leverage with a re-elected Iemma government? Or does it matter? After all, parrots are good at tricks.

Forget Tintin. We know who Kevin Rudd really looks like. Elton John.

Send your snippets to christian@crikey.com.au.