Henry Porter, an observer in The Observer, asks the question that continues to haunt the Conservative party and anyone sick of Labour's sleaze and incompetence.
Despite everything, Conservative fortunes have gone into reverse. Nothing the party says, even its reassurance on the key issues of health and security, seems to convince the electorate. At the same time, nothing in Labour's record - from Iraq to reneging on a promise to hold a referendum on the European constitution, from pulling the plug on the BAE inquiry to the ducking and diving over Northern Rock - seems to shake the public's faith. This either suggests that the electorate has no more awareness of the issues than a shoal of mackerel or that something else is at work.
Porter blames the current reverse upon the psychological dependency of the electorate upon Labour and envisages a one-party state. This has all the power of confusion: pundits grasping at straws as they are unable to understand what is happening in the country. This was the problem in analysing the Blair phenomenon and the same malaise afflicts examination of the current government.
None of the problems that clearly prevailed under Blair have gone away. The underpinnings of failure are there, despite hiding under the vagaries of the 'Brown bounce' and the honeymoon. Association with Blair's record has not yet returned, but the second iteration of legal action, spinning media releases and failing government will not go away.
Brown refused to reveal his decision on a snap election with his interview on the Andrew Marr show. The Northern Rock episode did not dent his poll ratings, but the Chancellor's promise that the economy is rock-solid may prove a fatal prediction, and his sickening belief that the poor will pay the price under a Tory government averts the gaze from Brown's willingness to make those on a low income pay for his mistakes in income taxes and misallocated tax credits.
The Labour party will be examining declines in economic confidence closely. There are some indications that house purchases may have been hit. Traffic to estate agent websites are down and there are reports that panic selling amongst landlords are sending the buy-to-let market into a nosedive. If house prices start to fall, this may have an adverse impact upon their ratings. The foundations of Labour's support remain as fragile as their reputations for competence, and that is continually fraying.