KEY POINTS:
Things are getting grim when the Minister of Finance has to draw on the Wimbledon women's tennis finals for some comfort about his party's place in the polls.
While John Key shared quality time with his family in Omaha and Bill English mixed pleasure with business in Samoa, there was no time for holidays in Labour-land.
To rub in the point, Helen Clark said of her National rivals: "They do tend to work pretty short weeks and years in my experience. I've found this job is pretty all-consuming."
Labour's MPs trolleyed up to Premier House for a full day strategy meeting with their leader.
She had one message for them to face a "vexatious winter" as the party copped the flak for the economic slowdown in the polls: "Hard hats on."
The Treasury had warned recession was imminent and a business confidence survey told grim news of future price increases and job losses.
The unofficial edict was to walk from Parliament for the caucus meeting at Premier House after the previous meeting resulted in television coverage of ministers arriving one by one in the new Crown BMWs.
Despite the hard hats warning , only Trevor Mallard came prepared - cycling up from Parliament with his safety helmet firmly attached while his press secretary sprinted behind.
Those who obeyed the command to walk made much of their sacrifice.
"This golden oldie rugby player has been walking to work this morning," declared Shane Jones, when asked how Labour intended to close the gap in the polls.
Other reactions to the same question ranged from Tim Barnett's "we're not convinced those polls are accurate at all" to Michael Cullen's acknowledgment they were underdogs.
"But underdogs win sometimes. None of the overdogs won the women's tennis at Wimbledon."
Whatever happened behind the doors of Premier House, when the Prime Minister emerged she came out swinging.
She declared the "phoney war" officially over, saying the differences between the two parties were becoming stark as National trickled out policy - whether deliberately or not.
She said the strategy was to treat the year as a marathon rather than a sprint.
