As the half-way point of the election campaign whizzes by, and Australians start to post their votes (yes voting is happening right now), it is important to pause and highlight a particular alternative reality moment.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison, a former NSW Liberal party director and known political animal (even his most ardent supporters admire his political nous and cunning), has told us that up is down and black is white when it comes to the political side of being a politician.
We know politics is on the nose, and the focus groups must be reinforcing it, but Mr Morrison is attempting to suggest, roughly two and a half weeks out from polling day, that he is not like those others.
The Prime Minister knows something is coming and it is going to hurt. There is a more than reasonable chance the independent Reserve Bank will raise interest rates on Tuesday in response to higher than expected inflation figures. In the middle of the campaign, no less. A happening not seen since the 2007 election campaign and that all went south for John Howard.
What was Mr Morrison asked by the travelling media pack on Monday?
"If the Reserve Bank raises interest rates tomorrow. Do you think that will hurt the Coalition's chances at the polls?"
OK. That's not an answer he was going to say "yes" to, but the Prime Minister dove straight on in.
"You know what? It's not about politics. It's not about politics. What happens tomorrow deals with what people pay on their mortgages. That's what I'm concerned about," he pushed back.
"It's not about what it means for politics. I mean, sometimes you guys see things through a totally political lens. I don't. And Australians don't."
Politicians and the media must be really on the stink for this seasoned campaigner and strategist to try that one on.
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But it all comes down to one of the core messages of the Coalition's campaign and there was follow through from the media pack.
Mr Morrison was asked, "You campaign, Prime Minister, as a superior economic manager. Are voters really supposed to believe that you will separate yourself from what happens tomorrow and claim you have no responsibility for the conditions that have led here?"
"Well, I think I've set out the position pretty clearly about what the macroeconomic environment is that is impacting on rates in Australia," was the response.
Which is, nothing to see here.
Earlier he also said, "how we manage the economy, how we manage the government's finances will impact, potentially, what happens to rates and they could go higher than they might otherwise go".
It is hard to keep up.
"So tomorrow, it's not about me, it's not about Mr Albanese. It's not about the Treasurer or the shadow treasurer," Mr Morrison said.
"It's about Australians themselves and the decisions they're making and understanding the pressures on the economy. And who they think is going to be better able to manage those pressures in the future."
So politics then?
We will soon find out what the independent Reserve Bank will do. But the groundwork has already been laid. It won't be the Coalition's fault. Or it might be.