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Campaign analysis: Thursday April 7
Daniel Forman's daily diary of the election campaign.
Thursday April 7 12:02pm GMT
Launching the election, Tony Blair said the economy would "above all else" be the bedrock of Labour's record and future programme.
Yesterday he did so again, making a point of appearing alongside Gordon Brown and saying it would be "foolish" to move him from the Treasury.
And today the topic continues to lead the party's campaign agenda, with another joint appearance with the chancellor, a speech by Brown and a poster launch emphasising the choice of Blair and Brown versus Michael Howard and Oliver Letwin.
After three days of this - and probably more - it's hard for Blair to claim that "education, education, education" remain his three top priorities. 'It's the economy, stupid', as Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign first identified.
Clinton's two campaigns remain an inspiration to the Labour hierarchy, as do Al Gore and John Kerry's subsequent failures to succeed him.
They see as central to George W Bush's re-election success last year his ability to set the agenda on moral and security issues, rather than the faltering US economy and public services.
He also made the poll a choice between himself and Kerry instead of a referendum on his own handling of the Iraq war.
Blair would like to do much the same here, except of course he very much wants the media to talk about the economy.
The latest Labour posters draw heavily on the choice theme and on poll findings putting Blair ahead on leadership and national security, despite his personal unpopularity stemming from Iraq.
They also put Brown at the forefront of the campaign, marking him clearly as an electoral asset.
The reassurances about the chancellor's job security are also about playing on this and closing down an unnecessary area of debate.
Much as Blair's own announcement last autumn that he would serve a full third term sought to avoid months of questioning on the subject, so he is now trying to put an end to questions about his troubled relationship with Brown at every press conference.
Meanwhile the Conservative leader has hit on MRSA as a way on entering the health debate.
While Labour is trusted more on the NHS, the Tories' "how hard can it be to keep a hospital clean?" message is popular and clear.
Charles Kennedy has taken his campaign to the West and Wales and picked education as his theme of the day.
The Lib Dems have strong policies on primary class sizes, secondary curriculum reform and student fees.
There's a slogan in there somewhere. "Education, education, education"?
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