KEY POINTS:
It's election day in Australia and it's going to be a momentous day for John Howard either way, but especially if he wins for a fifth term after trailing Labor's Kevin Rudd all year.
It may be a case of Lazarus with a triple bypass (as he described himself once), on Viagra.
Howard has looked indomitable in the past few days in contrast with his harried and defensive appearances earlier in the past week. His class as a veteran campaigner emerged only in the dying days of the campaign.
Rudd sounded more robot with each passing interview but Labor's has been the most impressive campaign, tight and focused if over-sanitised.
Most political commentators here are predicting a close Labor victory.
That is on the basis of another poll due out today, The Australian's Newspoll. It is a replica of the surprise Galaxy one yesterday narrowing Labor's lead over the Coalition to just 4 points - 52 per cent to Labor and 48 per cent to the Coalition. Another reputable poll puts Labor's lead at 14 points.
But unlike New Zealand, it's the number of electorate seats and not the percentage of votes that will determine the Government.
And it is possible that Labor could again win more of the total vote nationwide but not win most of the seats, as occasionally happened in New Zealand before MMP.
The last time that happened in Australia was in 1998 under Kim Beazley. The other times were in 1990, 1969, 1961 and 1954.
It's a wonder that there has not been a greater movement in Australia for a proportional system like MMP, for which my respect has grown enormously in the past week.
It is not just the fact that the system makes the votes in marginal electorates more important than another and that parties skew their campaigns accordingly, its that it leads to borderline corruption.
It was claimed on the 7.30 Report current affairs show this week that the bellwether seat of Eden-Monaro in New South Wales - whose local MP has changed with Government changes for 35 years - has had $100 million of federal grants dispensed in the past three years.
I don't know if it is true but it wasn't disputed by the sitting MP.
And the Auditor General issued a damning report last week over such largess to marginal seats in under a regional grants programme.
I'm leaving Canberra this morning for Sydney. Tonight I'll be at the Wentworth Hotel, Howard's headquarters, where I will witness either the end of a remarkable era, or one of the most amazing comebacks in politics.
