According to Howard, there isn't a choice. There's him and...

According to Howard, there isn't a choice. There's him and Latham, and Latham is "unfit" to be prime minister. The man has admitted he smoked a joint and inhaled, he had sex between marriages, rugby-tackled a taxi driver and criticised George Bush. It's claimed the Liverpool Council finances were mismanaged when he was mayor. It's enough to make a decent politician apoplectic.

The PM seems to have done none of these things (though some say Commonwealth finances were mismanaged during his five years as treasurer). Howard is honest, understanding, truthful, sport-loving and courageous. That's if you believe him. Not everybody does, including some of his most fervent admirers. They prefer to say how clever he is; a good debater, a master of political tricks and wizardry, a sort of greying Harry Potter, power walking into the Third Age.

How far can cleverness of this kind take Australia in the 21st century? Without imagination, ideas and some sense of vision, not too far. If this Government had ideas it's run out of them, although at election time it responds to stimuli. If Latham says "baby bonus", suddenly there's an allowance. He raises early childhood development and the PM starts grabbing photo opportunities with young children. We're even promised a vision for the next 10 years, not something we're exactly used to.

Howard's vision, if there ever was one, was of an Australia which is "relaxed and comfortable". This hasn't worked. Australians are less relaxed and more anxious that ever and the PM wandering round in an Akubra and calling people "mate" doesn't help. In fact, they wonder if that cherished Australian identity - easygoing, friendly and egalitarian - hasn't been seriously weakened by a Prime Minister who seeks to exploit it.