KEY POINTS:
When you don't want to talk about anything else, you can always talk law and order.
There is nothing like calling on a bit of law and order - the conservative politician's loyal and obedient servant - to get out of afix.
It was almost an automatic reflex on National's part that it should drag out the trusty old standby at its annual conference to muffle the growing chorus from Labour, the media and others for the party to start talking about other policies, such as KiwiSaver, in much more detail.
Although extremely reluctant to reveal more this far out from the election, National recognised it could not get through the weekend without putting a bit of flesh on a few bones.
With John Key not delivering his set-piece speech until yesterday, Simon Power was delegated to serve up some morsels to feed Saturday night's television news bulletins.
National's justice spokesman did not say a lot, but he probably offered enough by flagging longer jail terms for those found guilty of assault or cruelty to a child.
His speech was reinforced by Key likewise "sending a message" to child abusers about individual responsibility, a theme which was lapped up by the 600-plus delegates.
While hardly a lurch to the right, for once Key was not moving markedly to the left. National was differentiating itself from Labour - until Labour matches it or talks even tougher.
The bidding war for the centre ground was one reason why the conference mood, while buoyant, was not ebullient.
Having watched its policy on the tax treatment of charitable donations pilfered by Labour, National lives in fear of Labour neutralising its best ideas if Helen Clark and company get the slightest hint.
The reverse seems to apply, however. Key's new plan to make home ownership more affordable comes just a week after the Prime Minister revealed that Labour was doing considerable work behind the scenes on that very issue.
Key says he had been thinking about housing affordability long before Helen Clark went public. However, the "me too" behaviour was repeated in his statement that National will take higher-income earners out of Labour's Working for Families programme, but only in conjunction with significant tax cuts.
The suggestion that National will leave the rest of Working for Families intact may indicate low to middle-income earners are worried that National's tax cuts will leave them worse off than they are now.
National's tax policy will not be unveiled before the official four-week election campaign. That leaves a huge vacuum between now and then. Key had to fill it with something.
The timing of the tax policy reflects National's even bigger fear that Labour will have oodles of cash for an election-year spend-up like no other. National was caught out last time by Labour's abolition of interest on student loans.
The Beehive now openly refers to the "fourth Budget" in the three-year electoral cycle - the unofficial one delivered during the election campaign. National has to keep its options open as late as possible.
"Helen Clark's building up the kitty," Bill English warned the conference before taking a swing at "the elite, latte-sipping suits" in the Beehive.
However, the heat is currently on the latte drinkers in the Opposition wing of Parliament to spell out their plans, given National's chunky lead in the polls and Key still being something of an unknown quantity.
Key himself acknowledged the pressure by revealing that he had checked newspaper reports and found Clark had got the same treatment before Labour's victory in 1999.
National will hold its nerve. No one is going to dictate its election-year policy timetable.
However, with two major policy discussion documents sitting in the pipeline, it will probably continue to drip-feed material to stifle the calls for specifics.
