It's the economy, stupid, Bill Clinton's strategist said in 1992.
The cliché will be ringing through the minds of today's strategists in Australia 30 years later. How will the latest figures play, showing that wages have risen by 2.4 per cent a year - half the rate at which prices are rising.
Will the squeeze on voters' spending power help the Coalition, which claims it is strong on the economy, or will it help Labor, whose leader has promised that wages should not "go backwards"?
The Liberal leader has a new campaigner by his side: his wife, Jenny.
After the Coalition's launch on Sunday, Jenny Morrison accompanied her husband on each of his campaign events in Queensland and the NT.
There's nothing wrong with a husband and wife campaigning together, of course. But more cynical heads might detect a desire to project a warm, family side, particularly since Mr Morrison is alleged to have put off women voters with a hard image.
But that would be cynical.
On the other side, Labor leader Anthony Albanese has been under pressure to put the detailed costings on his party's plans. He says that will be done tomorrow.
The polls have tightened markedly in the last few days. Those costings may make or break Labor. They ensure that the final day of the campaign will be a focus on Labor and money.
As you start thinking about Saturday - and its aftermath - you might like to mug up on four electorates. The New South Wales seats of Robertson, Lindsay and Eden-Monaro, and the South Australian seat of Makin have at times been thought to be bellwethers - where they go, so goes the nation.
The longest-lasting bellwether is Robertson, which has been held by the party that's formed government every election since 1983.
We can't tell you who will win it this time (oddly enough) but the opinion polls there suggest it's close, very close.
After the election, you may want to drown your sorrows or celebrate. Fortunately, an Australian wine has been named as the world's best grenache.
The Ethereal One Fleurieu Grenache 2020, from South Australian winemaker Mark Jamieson, won the trophy for that type of wine at the International Wine Challenge in London yesterday, becoming the first Australian wine to win that particular trophy.
It costs $15 a bottle, low enough not to bust a budget.
THE NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- Jenny on the trail: How Scott Morrison's wife is helping the 'bulldozer' clear a path to victory
- Worst real wage decline this century': new figures show cost of living hit
- Don't believe all you read this election
- Mum's hopes and fears for daughter after neurofibromatosis diagnosis
- Key seats in the election: Australia's four bellwethers
- Australian wine is the world's best grenache, and it's only $15
- Paid family violence leave will save lives, says advocate
- Don't be a donkey: How to make sure your vote is counted correctly
Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
