Australian PM, only 3 weeks on the job but already polling well, calls August elections

Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard speaks at the national press club in Canberra, Australia, Thursday, July 15, 2010. Australia's government bolstered its economic credentials ahead of looming elections by releasing new treasury data Wednesday that showed its reversal on a promised mining tax had not diminished its budget forecasts. The latest figures are even better than the treasury's last budget outlook, released in May, which showed Australia's finances would be back in surplus in the 2012-13 fiscal year despite billions of dollars in government stimulus spending to avoid recession. The improvement, largely due to soaring prices for Australian energy and mineral exports, is expected to come despite Prime Minister Julia Gillard abandoning plans to introduce a 40 percent tax on mining companies' burgeoning profits.(AP Photo/Mark Graham) (Mark Graham, AP / July 15, 2010)

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who called elections Saturday just three weeks after taking power, was once considered too far left to win a national vote. But polls and analysts say she has as good a chance of wooing the Australian public as her opponent: He was long thought too conservative to appeal to the mainstream.

Buoyed by strong support for her new leadership — she grabbed power in a surprise ruling Labor Party coup — Gillard scheduled elections for Aug. 21.

Gillard has hit the ground running, attempting to steer a new course in key policy areas, saying the government had "lost its way" under her predecessor, Kevin Rudd.

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I read about her earlier today. She is quite impressive, accomplished and highly professional. Good to see such a politician rise.

Here is her most important platform promise:

Gillard has promised to return Australia to a surplus budget in three years.