No, Laurie, that's not a turning point but another dead end Laurie Oakes has hailed so many turning points and circuit breakers in Labor's fading fortunes, with no luck. Now he detects yet another: Small problem. There is no sign that this "biting" campaign has done anything but accelerate Labor's fall. Yes, some people worry about the cuts we actually must make - but the scare campaign comes at the cost of making Labor seem bankrupt of any positive vision. It also reminds us who got us into this financial mess in the first place with its mad spending. As for the parental leave scheme, Oakes is right to say lots of people think it a dog. I sure do. But it is no way is a deal breaker - and not just because it's been put off until 2015. Those of us worried about unaffordable government spending are hardly likely to vote Labor instead. Moreover, Labor's attack on a free-spending Abbott jars with its claim that Abbott will cut, cut, cut. The ABC's Latika Bourke is "worrying" that Labor's "persuasive" argument for re-election is not being heard: Kevin Rudd probably has just a few days left to save his election campaign, but there are worrying signs his strategy lacks what is needed to resurrect Labor's chances... After the past six years, the question for voters is why this Government deserves another chance. Labor thus far has failed to provide a persuasive answer, even though it has one. It's not remarkable at all, of course, that ABC journalists prefer Labor to Liberal. But when will they and Labor accept that Labor's problem isn't that voters can't hear its message but they reject it? Didn't we go through this farce with Gillard, with journalists agreeing her real problem was just that she wasn't getting "clear air" to sell whatever garbage she was selling? This attitude is rooted in the arrogant self-delusion of so many of the Left - that voters are largely stupid people who would voted Labor if only rotten people didn't stop the message getting through to them. Rotten people like Murdoch, Rudd, "shock jocks," me, Big Carbon, Big Tobacco, Big Mining, Gina Rinehart... A lot of people in Labor need to get over themselves and treat voters with respect. Thanks to reader Ian.