A completely sleepless night (insomnia rocks) has at least afforded me an excess of time to reflect on the political landscape.

I do believe there is a distinction between Australian and US politics that we need to be more aware of...

US politics is won by mobilising passions on the extreme of the political spectrums. Convincing people of the absolute necessity to be engaged and vote.

In Australia, with compulsory voting, politics is won by persuading the middle to lean in your direction. That is where the majority of the voting public sit.

This is something conservatives do better than progressives right now, mainly utilising fear.

We need to realise the tactics that work for progressive causes in the US aren't necessarily applicable here.

It is useless charging head strong with progressive ideals if we are moving to fast to bring the middle with us.

It is better to slowly drag the centre to the left than to watch from a distance as yet another right wing Government takes the nation away from where we need to be.

How do we do this?

I think 90% is messaging, but I also believe a bit more empathy is necessary for those in the "middle".

If we continue to show them contempt, we make it infinitely easier for the likes of Morrison to convince them he is their only reasonable option.

In summary, compulsory voting ensures our country moves only as fast as our "middle". This is a big reason for our stability and prosperity.

But it also means we can't expect "revolutions", we need to work for and celebrate incremental successes or risk having none at all.

(The plus side, BTW, is the far right of the LNP can't move the country as fast to the right as it would love to either)