KEY POINTS:
Before hunkering down to prepare for the all-important leaders television debate tonight, Helen Clark and John Key were in Auckland.
Clark unveiled a billboard: Kiwibank Kiwisaver KiwiRail - Keep it Kiwi - vote Labour.
Key unveiled his party's maternity policy - no mother forced out of a birthing facility until she is ready.
Clark is very chirpy. Not to put too fine a point on it, crisis becomes her.
It is doing the same for other leaders down on their luck.
he dour Gordon Brown in Britain has finally got a spring in his step according to Observer writer Andrew Rawnsley in his latest column.
"Someone who sees a lot of the Prime Minister remarked to me the other day that he had not seen Gordon Brown so happy in years. The world is crashing around his ears and Mr Brown has to stop himself smiling too obviously. His chin is up. His stride has lengthened. His shoulders have straightened. He has even taken to cracking jokes, albeit of the gallows variety. When someone's mobile interrupted a speech, he chucklingly wondered 'if another bank has fallen'."
Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd across the Tasman was elected almost a year ago and has not been in the same trouble as Brown. He hasn't been in the country long enough for people to establish a firm view about his leadership.
But recent concerns over such matters have been obliterated by the staggering proportions of the crisis.
Speaking of staggering proportions, Rudd has today announced an incredible $12 billion package to stimulate the economy that will include big lump sum payments to various groups.
For example. single pensioners will get $14000 and couples $2100.
About $4 billion will be given to parents in a one-off benefit of $1000 per child - there are about 4 million children.
Michael Cullen had a press conference earlier today to put a little more flesh around the Labour's potential economic policy including big projects that might be brought forward to avoid the country slipping into depression.
The difference between the Australian package and New Zealand's is that Cullen cannot estimate or even guesstimate the cost of his measures, not even the short-term ones.
It would clearly increase debt but by how much he couldn't say. But he will be able to just after the election.
"We will want to do further work on that in the immediate post-election period when I think we will have a better picture about what is happening to economic forecasts in the light of the financial turmoil," Cullen said.
"I think we'll have a better picture in about a month or so about what actually the flow-on effects are and how stable the financial markets are at that point."
It's a kind of "trust us - even if we don't know what we are doing yet" approach.
Somehow I don't think National would be able to say as much without getting a stinging rebuke from the Finance Minister.
If Key is looking for a target tonight, it will be in Labour's increasing looseness around its costings.
