Can John Howard pull it out?

John Howard has been trailing in the polls for months and time finally seemed to be up for the Australian PM. But under the headline ‘Lazarus Stirs’ the Sydney Morning Herald has a poll showing a swing back to Howard at the end of the first week of the Australian election campaign. Although Labor is still in front by an election-winning margin of 54-46% the gap is closing. The result is mirrored in News Ltd’s polling which has Labor up to 53-47%. However the government’s best news came from the preferred Prime Minister rating which has closed a massive 9 points in the last two weeks. Despite nearly being dumped by his party less than a month ago and having conceded that he will retire some time in the next term, Howard is now only 4 points behind Kevin Rudd as the electorate’s preferred PM. This is the rock-ribbed conservative’s best result since December and will have Labor deeply worried.