IN his speech to the Conservative conference, George Osborne began to repeat the refrain 'we're all in this together' so often it began to sound like the Frogs' Chorus.
It was an unsubtle attempt at a mantra, but the thinking behind it is cunning. He was putting the onus on us.
How can anyone be churlish enough not to make a personal sacrifice to help get the country's finances back on an even kilter? After all, we're all in this together.
Have to work another year before you get your state pension? It's a shame - but we're all in this together.
Earning more than £18,000 a year in the state sector? No pay rise for you then - but we're all in this together.
Looking forward to getting a £250 wedge for each child? Sorry, that's for the needy only from now on - because we're all in this together.
The Conservatives have even been promised to cut ministers' pay by five per cent and reduce the number of MPs - just to prove we're all in this together.
Fed up with it already? Believe me, you're going to hear a lot more of this little maxim between now and next June.
But it did not detract from the fact that George Osborne has an image problem. Mandelson has dubbed him 'Boy George' and he has spongy, slightly petulaent features which make him look like Piers Morgan's obnoxious little brother.
This is why he's attempting to reshape himself in the public eye. He now refuses to smile (because it looks too much like a simper) and is attempting to develop a more sonorous speaking voice.
Yet all this effort flies in the face of conventional wisdom as personified by Boris Johnson, who proved once again that voter appeal is something you are born with and not something which can be easily acquired.
His burbling, self-deprecatory contribution from the podium will have won over more wavering voters than Osborne's care-constructed package.
From the moment he brought his warm welcome to a peremptory close, to the moment he waved away a standing ovation and lumbered off haphazardly shoving his papers into his inside pocket, Johnson was the star.
David Cameron was the first to his feet. His hands applauded feverishly, but his eyes flickered with uncertainty and not a little apprehension.
* WATCHING Andrew Marr's sudden transmogrification from the thoughtful and considered interviewer into Sunday morning ankle-biter has been amusing.
After the uproar caused by his entirely-relevant inquiry about Gordon Brown's health, he knew New Labour would be watching to see how he levelled things up with David Cameron.
Retribution (if it can be termed as such) came in the form of a question about the Conservative leader's personal wealth - which is an area into which high-profile BBC presenters venture at their peril.
As a consequence, it was like watching Andy Pandy putting the boot into Teddy.
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