It's hard to say whether it will cost them votes or not, even harder now that they cut it off at the ankles and ram raided it out the door before the issue could truely be assessed and have its potential seen. Howard and Latham both knew it would be an issue they would have to face at some time, and like the fkn cowards they are they ran from it.
2) When you say "ALL OF ITS PEOPLE" I assume you mean "PEOPLE THAT HAVE THE SAME VESTED INTERESTS AS ME" right?
No. when i say "ALL OF ITS PEOPLE" i mean, ALL OF THE PEOPLE LIVING UNDER THEIR GOVERNMENT. That means everyone who pays taxes, who goes to school, who uses public transport, who gets mugged, who are raped, who are victims of domestic violence, who are criminals, who are religious, who are not, who are hetero, who are homo who are bi, tran or otherwise defined... i mean EVERY BLOODY PERSON AFFECTED IN ANY WAY BY WHAT THE GOVERNMENT DECIDES IT WANTS TO DO TO US TODAY.
Howards picked his target demographics, Lathams got his. They run with it and ignore the rest and hope we get a few swinging voters on our side for good measure. Politics isn't about taking care of the people anymore.. its all about getting votes, getting in and staying there. Stuff the people, just make sure we have good ads and a well funded campaign strategy and we'll be fine.