Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is still weighing up the date of the federal election. Source: AAP
PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd is still weighing up the date of the federal election.
With a September 14 poll now apparently off the table, Labor has four dates available in August and October.
The odds continue to shorten on August 24 or 31, with a 33-day campaign starting on July 22 or 29.
However, an earlier election has pitfalls as well as benefits for Labor.
It could face a Liberal-National coalition that is well-funded, and arguable better prepared.
But Labor may also want to capitalise on the "honeymoon effect" of the change in leader to Rudd from Julia Gillard and take advantage of the current bump in the opinion polls.
Political history shows most new leaders get an initial spike in popularity.
The only recent exceptions was when Labor's Simon Crean replaced Kim Beazley in 2001 and Kim Beazley took over from Mark Latham in 2005.
A short and sharp campaign would also minimise the risk of any further discontent developing in Labor's ranks as Rudd beds down his election platform.
An early poll could mean Labor has to parachute in candidates to the safe seats of Lalor, Hotham, Rankin, Perth, Charlton and Kingsford-Smith, which are being vacated by mostly Gillard ministers.
The other option is to go to the electorate on October 19 or October 26, with the election writs being issued on September 16 or 23.
Rudd says the election date should take into account the Group of 20 industrialised leaders' summit in Russia on September 5 and 6.
An October election would accommodate this and allow the former foreign minister to strut the world stage while attending the G20 event as the host of the 2014 summit in his home city of Brisbane.
However, the timing would also put in jeopardy his attendance at two other summits: APEC in Bali on October 7-8 and East Asia Summit in Brunei on October 9-10.
An October election would give Rudd time to develop a policy agenda, and perhaps a mini-budget.
New ministers would be able to get their feet under their desks, if parliament returned for two or three weeks of sittings after the winter break.
The prime minister would need a good reason to bring back parliament - and shifting the fixed carbon price to a floating price emissions trading scheme a year earlier in 2014 could be it.
An earlier ETS start date could help safeguard Labor's carbon pricing regime from a coalition promise to scrap the carbon tax, if it wins government.
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