A powerhouse performance by the PM has left Kevin Rudd eating dust in the Crikey/Media Monitors Top 20 for the week of 14-20 August. Of course, this was before strippergate…

Peter Costello’s dinnertime dudgeon gave him a strong run, pushing perennial Peter Beattie down a slot, but the real surprise of the week was Steve Bracks, back from the dead and into the charts at Number 12.

Philip Ruddock and Anthony Albanese had the biggest speaking roles amongst the bit players, bumping out Brendan Nelson and Helen Coonan this week.

TW

Politician

Press

Radio

TV

Internet

Total

1
(0)

John Howard

1,064

8,277

4,311

7,897

21,549

2
(2)

Kevin Rudd

681

6,150

4,018

4,438

15,287

3
(1)

Peter Costello

501

5,217

3,641

2,292

11,651

4
(-1)

Peter Beattie

327

2,229

1,420

1,997

5,973

5
(3)

Alexander Downer

177

2,727

824

1,225

4,953

6
(5)

Tony Abbott

150

649

743

1,026

2,568

7
(-2)

Kevin Andrews

59

610

73

1,825

2,567

8
(1)

Wayne Swan

119

1,005

754

500

2,378

9
(-3)

John Brumby

147

618

142

1,406

2,313

10
(-3)

Morris Iemma

78

932

224

841

2,075

11
(5)

Julia Gillard

111

809

582

531

2,033

12
(17)

Steve Bracks

80

254

96

1,275

1,705

13
(-3)

Mal Brough

87

683

20

813

1,603

14
(0)

Malcolm Turnbull

87

627

88

792

1,594

15
(-3)

Joe Hockey

114

549

65

609

1,337

16
(8)

Mark Vaile

84

380

135

513

1,112

17
(3)

Julie Bishop

93

458

301

235

1,087

18
(15)

Philip Ruddock

110

263

11

634

1,018

19
(13)

Anthony Albanese

41

511

130

213

895

20
(-2)

Mike Rann

126

327

88

281

822

Kevin Rudd was the only talkback issue across the country on Monday, launching him well into the Number 1 spot. Poor Petey-Poo, once again, has to be happy with Number Two.

Rank

Politician

Talkback

1

Kevin Rudd

1,563

2

Peter Costello

405

3

John Howard

323

4

Peter Beattie

229

5

Alexander Downer

225

And how do our pols compare with the rest of the world? Nicole Ritchie only clocked up 361 mentions. Kevin Rudd must have provided all the entertainment coverage.