Kevin Rudd as Chairman Mao

Shanghaiist keeps you up-to-speed with the latest in Australian politics. Remember Kevin Rudd, the Australian Labor Party leader that impressed us all (and President Hu Jintao) with his kickass Chinese skills? Some 23 year old law student with too much time on his hands decided to poke fun at the ongoing Australian election campaign by uploading a Youtube video of Rudd, depicting him as revolutionary leader Chairman Mao. And it was a hit — the video received 25,000 hits over 5 days.

The video includes two images of Kevin Rudd cleverly photoshopped into old communist propaganda posters (yes, the type that you'd find in the Dongtai Lu antique market), and classic lines among the subtitles (which are supposed to the translation for the rubbish Chinese voiceovers) include "Rudd impress and frighten Australian person with his earnestness offensive," and "He unnerve decrepit Howard by deploying clever principle of 'similar difference'. Leader Rudd declares swift and violent Education Revolution." Ingenious. And as the Sydney Morning Herald notes, political parties with their multi-million dollar advertising budgets have a thing or two to learn from guerilla tactics such as these.

Related links
Shanghaiist: A new dawn in Sino-Australian relations?
Sydney Morning Herald: YouTube revolutionaries upstage the party machine
AFP: Australian Labor leader Rudd marches to Mao tune