In their stead are appeals to bipartisanship, sombre discussions about economic uncertainty and law and order, and, of course, the flag.On the face of it, defence and crime are Republican themes.
After a largely scrappy first-half punctuated by handling errors, poor passing and rushed options in the face of rushing defence, both teams ran the ball with alacrity in the second stanza to energise the bumper crowd of 73,824 The game turned in the 66th minute when Wallabies half Nick Phipps - who had a particularly poor game - was yellow-carded and did not return.
It's not often that a smile breaks across the face of Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards, but it does when the name of Andy Farrell is mentioned.
And although BAE is struggling in the face of US defence cuts, it is likely to be protected from takeover - at least by a foreign firm - by the UK government's veto.
When you are concentrating on catching the ball up in the face of the defence, you will inevitably lose some pace, so holding your depth allows you to take the pass and get the knees up and take the ball into contact on your own terms.
On the face of it, the defence companies do.
Far from resigning in face of this indictment, defence minister Bob Ainsworth has not felt compelled even to offer a comment.
Their team dominated in the tight, took an early lead through Matt Jones with a penalty – but, crucially, lacked the cutting edge to turn their superiority into points in the face of tremendous Wasps defence.
Second versus third, a passion-play of high skill in the face of hyper-physical defence, a sell-out in the best ground in the land, a match of grand-final-like intensity, a very Australian derby in which the teams represent cities 1,350 kilometres apart.
