How could such a piece have come to be written, and not merely published but given front-page treatment? It presupposes a fair amount of tacit sanction and indeed encouragement from Rudd himself and from a growing group of supporters.
But were the waverers who are now coming around really undecided, or closet supporters who've come out to create a sense of gathering momentum?
The timing is nice, although none too subtle, a year on and with the latest Newspoll showing the party and the leader's standing in the polls in far worse shape. In counterpoint to Gillard's claim to be playing a long game that, if everyone knuckles down, can still lead to triumph in the end is Rudd's even longer-run strategy of enduring defeat and planning the return to office.
It doesn't matter that both the claim and counter-claim are the stuff of fantasies, just as long as some of the back bench are beguiled by them. As for Rudd, is he mad enough to believe his own propaganda? Perhaps he is, intermittently. But the theme of the once-and-future king is fundamentally a way of asserting that he is the rightful leader shamefully usurped.
He can destabilise Gillard's prime ministership with impunity and let her stew in her own juice whenever she dabbles ill-advisedly in international diplomacy because she has no power over him and she depends on his vote.
Even the suspicion that Rudd might be borderline delusional serves to rock the boat. MPs in marginal seats will continue to wonder: is he mad enough to pull the pin and bring down the government and, if so, when? They'll all remember that when he took over the leadership he said that it would be fun to mess with John Howard's head for a few months. Nowadays the heads he messes with are those of his colleagues.
