Officially the Australian Labour Party are saying “nothing to do with us, guv” over Tom Watson crashing their election; though could there be another reason he’s down there, beyond his own ego? The rumour mill is in overdrive today with one theory doing the rounds – Watson is on a recruitment drive to find a new campaign coordinator or election boss for Labour in 2015. Blind-sided by the Tories hiring of Jim Messina, the hunt is very much on.

With two senior Obama campaign figures (Tom McMahon, the former head of the Democratic National Committee, and Joon Kim of New Partners consultants) trying to revive the struggling Kevin Rudd campaign, it could be a very useful fishing trip. Blue State Digital’s Matt McGregor, who ran rapid rebuttal against Romney, is also on the Rudd campaign and has already been hired by Labour, so who knows what will be discussed over some late night beers and karaoke. Lets hope the unions will be willing to open their cheque books…

UPDATE: Bruce Hawker who is head honcho on Rudd’s campaign is also a name touted for the Labour job.