One does not have to be Archimedes to work out that Julia Gillard is not a popular Prime Minister, or to realise that Tony Abbott is the most negative Opposition Leader that this nation has had in a long time.

It has reached the point where most Australians are asking if it is possible that we can be presented with a totally different choice. 

Many of us will agree that Julia is nothing if not tenacious, and we can acknowledge also that Tony is a great gutter fighter who has the government on the back foot most of the time, but those virtues are not what most of us want.

Australians want sound leadership for troubled times.

John Howard held his job for 11 years because most of us realised that he was an old dog for a hard road. Sadly, someone of his ilk is not currently in the Parliament. So, we will stagger on with insults being hurled across the floor of Parliament for the next two years in constant displays of amateur theatrics. When the election is called, there is every possibility that Julia may stagger narrowly across the line because Tony Abbott has been unable convince the voters that he is anything but a highly negative Opposition Leader who is way out on the right of the political spectrum, whereas elections can only be won if you are in the centre.

Tony has to watch that he does not do a Hewson and lose the unloseable election. With the right wing of the Liberal Party maintaining their firm control after the recent defeat of Peter Reith for the Party Presidency, they will move further to the right, and this will be a tragedy as genuine conservative voters look for a moderate alternative.

This gives Julia every reason to hang in there. If Tony is politically astute, he will move to the centre in a hurry.