CANBERRA - Public support appears to be swinging back behind Prime Minister John Howard with an eight-point recovery for the coalition in tomorrow's key Newspoll.
The poll, to be published in The Australian newspaper, shows Labor still heading for an election win, leading the government 55 per cent to 45 on a two-party preferred basis.
But Labor's support has dropped four points and the coalition's has risen by the same amount from the last Newspoll a fortnight ago, when the opposition had an 18-point lead.
Primary support for Labor fell four points, to 47 per cent, while it rose by an equal amount, to 41 per cent, for the coalition.
The previous Newspoll sparked panic in government ranks, with Mr Howard forced to stare down senior ministers who had canvassed the idea of replacing him before the election.
Mr Howard's determination to remain in the job appears to be well-founded.
The Newspoll showed Mr Howard was far and away the preferred coalition leader, with 52 per cent support, compared with 18 per cent for Treasurer Peter Costello and 12 per cent for Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Against Labor leader Kevin Rudd, Mr Howard lifted marginally in the preferred prime minister stakes.
Mr Howard gained one point as preferred prime minister to 38 per cent, while Mr Rudd was unchanged on 48 per cent.
Despite a tumultuous few weeks in Australian politics, the satisfaction ratings for both leaders remained relatively stable.
Mr Howard had a one point drop in his satisfaction rating at 45 per cent, while those dissatisfied with his performance was unchanged at 44 per cent.
For Mr Rudd, there was a one point drop in both his satisfaction and dissatisfaction rating, at 65 per cent and 18 per cent respectively.
The bounce in Newspoll came as the coalition launched an all-out attack on Mr Rudd, branding him a liar and a phony who needed a US-style teleprompter to deliver his speeches.
In a concerted question time attack, Mr Howard dismissed Labor's faux campaign launch at the weekend while senior ministers criticised the number of committees and inquiries Mr Rudd has announced and the number of former union officials on the opposition benches.
Mr Howard ignored Labor calls to announce the election date and ridiculed Mr Rudd for holding a "pseudo-American, pseudo-ersatz" campaign launch last Saturday.
"There he was, complete with - what do you call them - teleprompters or rear vision mirrors, those things that have your words written on them," Mr Howard told parliament.
"I thought to myself `well here is American politics arrived in Australia big time'.
"I thought I was the bloke who was too close to the Americans. You could have fooled me."
Health Minister Tony Abbott accused Mr Rudd of lying about Labor's $2 billion fund to improve public hospitals, saying he had already raided the fund to make $700 million in other health announcements.
"The more people see and hear of this man, the more obvious it is that he is a phony," Mr Abbott said.
And Foreign Minister Alexander Downer warned Mr Rudd against cockiness after months of opinion polls showing the opposition heading for a landslide win.
Labor hit back, accusing Mr Howard of delaying calling the election to take advantage of $200 million of taxpayer-funded government advertising this year alone.
"Is the prime minister delaying the election just so he can keep this massive taxpayer-funded advertising blitz going?" Deputy Opposition Leader Julia Gillard asked.
But there was more embarrassment for Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull after it was revealed he sent voters in his marginal seat a four-page glossy newsletter which did not once mention Mr Howard, the Howard government, or the Liberal Party.
Last week, Mr Turnbull was forced to get to his feet three times to answer one question about his attendance at a meeting of cabinet ministers which canvassed replacing Mr Howard.
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