When the Prime Minister challenged Tony Abbott for a debate on the economy, Mr Rudd said ‘any time, anywhere’.

Mr Abbott should have called his bluff and accepted the challenge immediately, and I mean immediately. He should have said that he would meet him at the Press Club that day for the debate, or first thing the next morning if the challenge was made at night. The media would have turned up willingly and it would have been on.

The Prime Minister would have been caught off guard and Mr Abbott could have stopped Mr Rudd in his tracks. But I suspect Mr Abbott wasn’t ready either, because debating the economy is not his strength, or so we’re led to believe.