THE Labor Party's attempts to control the campaign for the August 21 election are reaching new levels of Kevin Rudd-style control-freakery.
Party operatives telephoned journalists this morning to advise them on what questions they should ask Tony Abbott.
At the same time as Julia Gillard is being criticised for constantly refusing to address questions at her press conferences, her Labor machine now appears to want to want to write Mr Abbott's.
This morning several journalists preparing to cover Mr Abbott's campaigning activities in Brisbane found themselves being called by Labor media advisers.
Typically, the conversation began with the claim that a particular issue, be it paid parental leave or the cost of living, was really heating up in Canberra.
If you guys could forensically examine Abbott on this you might take this somewhere, a Labor staffer told The Australian before starting to give example of the tough questions that might be thrust in the Opposition Leader's face.
There was none of this last week on Julia Gillard's bus when Coalition staffers minded their own business.
Last week, on the Gillard campaign bus, questions seemed to be far from the minds of Labor operatives and, particularly, from Ms Gillard herself.
Time and again the Prime Minister refused to address questions, instead adopting the stock tactic of using any question about anything to resort to her own rote line about moving forward or to attack the Coalition.
Forensic interrogations were treated like a backdrop to messages crafted by party tacticians over breakfast and the previous night's focus group research.
The latest Labor tactic highlights the tragic lack of authenticity so far in this election campaign.
Both sides seem more interested in spin or tricky tactics to shape the daily media message.
Perhaps this is why last night's leadership debate rose to no great heights, with the two people who want to lead a nation lacking the courage to lead a serious policy debate and instead spinning their wheels in the muck of carefully crafted, focus-group tested platitudes.
For the record, it is unlikely that Labor's proposed questions will get much of a run in the press conference Mr Abbott will hold later today.
The crude Labor tactic was the topic of laughter and ridicule as news spread of this morning's telephone calls.
Most of the journalists reckoned they could make up their own questions.
