Kevin Rudd's two sons join election team

Kevin and Nicholas Rudd

The definition of Nepotism is favouritism  granted in politics or business to relatives, regardless of merit.

Kevin Rudd must have known he would be howled down for bringing his two sons on board Labor's election team, but he did it anyway.  He would probably argue that nepotism doesn't apply in this case because both his sons do indeed have merit, and are more than qualified for the jobs he's given them.

His eldest son Nicholas 24, a lawyer, was involved in drafting the reforms of the Labor Party that the PM announced earlier this month and he will travel with his father during the campaign.  Mr Rudd said he has just finished three years with Clayton Utz, a leading Australian law firm, in commercial arbitration and would play a major role in the campaign.  Marcus 20, has joined the ALP's digital campaign team as an unpaid volunteer.

Marcus with his father

"People are pretty pissed off that both of Rudd's sons are going to be there" a senior government adviser said.

But wait, there's more.  The PM will import several members of Barack Obama's campaign team to tell him how to win the election.

Tom McMahon, former executive director of the Democratic National Committee, Joon Kim of the consulting firm New Partners and British social media expert Matthew McGregor, will become part of Rudd's election team.  They all worked on Barack Obama's re-election last year and played a vital role in driving his social media campaign.

We sometimes forget just how important social media has become - it can make or break Presidents and Kings and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott should be very worried.