UK: Tony Blair is desperately trying to energise the last days of the election campaign by talking down his own prospects and talking up those of Conservative leader Michael Howard.
The prime minister can hardly be faulted on the principle that if people want to be sure of having a Labour government on Friday their only sure bet is to vote for one on Thursday.
But on the streets of marginal Putney yesterday there were signs that he has work still to do to persuade some disillusioned Labour supporters that a "protest vote" for the Liberal Democrats might let the Conservatives into power "by the back door".
Expert number crunchers likewise seem unimpressed by Labour's latest poster warning that if just one in 10 previous Labour voters switch to the Lib Dems, Mr Howard could be prime minister come Friday morning.
Labour's rationale is that the party received 10.7 million votes last time, and that just 581,000 is the aggregate vote Labour needs to lose to hand power back to the Tories.
Indeed, since this represents considerably less than "one in 10", party sources yesterday suggested theirs was a conservative estimate of what Mr Blair maintains is a real threat.
Prof Paul Whiteley of Essex University was the latest expert to suggest Labour's "Nightmare on Howard Street" was an "extremely unlikely scenario". Such defections would not be uniform across the country and would cost the Conservatives seats as well.
Lib Dem strategist Lord Razzel pointed to polling data showing Labour having already lost the support of an estimated one in 10 since 2001, while the Conservatives (in some polls at least) appear to have slipped back since the start of the campaign.
Yet activists on all sides agree that Putney in southwest London is a classic example of a seat which could change hands if large numbers of previous Labour supporters defect to the Lib Dems, without the Conservatives increasing their vote much at all.
Which is why it was on deputy prime minister John Prescott's itinerary yesterday as cabinet ministers launched themselves on a three-day offensive in the marginal constituencies upon which the size of Mr Blair's still-predicted majority depends.
In an election more controlled, and more television-driven than any in history, it was a relief to find the old bruiser on the pavement outside the old Arndale Centre - revamped and branded the South Side Centre - plainly only too happy to mix it with real people.
Alas, the traditional tub-thumping was the nearest we got to excitement, as Mr Prescott cheered a small band of supporters with an amusing tirade against Charles Kennedy and Mr Howard.
Mr Prescott congratulated Mr Kennedy on the arrival of his baby son, while wondering how on earth the Lib Dem leader could have been so tired just 24 hours after the birth.
What would Britain's hard-working mums make of that, wondered Mr Prescott, observing that Donald James would be the happy recipient of the Labour government's new baby bond.
"All they can do is let the Conservatives in by the back door," charged Mr Prescott, while suggesting the Lib Dems wouldn't be so hot at keeping serious drug users and criminals behind bars.
Turning to the Tory leader, Mr Prescott wondered how many of his audience were familiar with the "Mister Men" of television fame.
"I'll accept that I'm Mr Grumpy," he laughed before putting "a triple whammy" at Mr Howard's door.
He was "Mr Wrong" over the poll tax, minimum wage and an independent Bank of England.
"Mr Forgetful" - promising to help the pensioners, while forgetting who it was took them out of earnings-related pensions in the first place.
"Mr Muddle", flip-flopping for and against the war.
It was good knockabout stuff, enough to bring a smile to the face of Dena Holmes, a lifelong Labour supporter who would do her duty.
"Always Labour," she offered, "when you've lived under a Conservative government before and remember what it was like."
Angie Blackman voted Green last time but thinks she might vote Labour now to stop the Tories.
Ahmad (who wouldn't give his surname) said he'd probably stick with Labour though he was against the war.
However, this prompted Joseph Zamit (originally from Malta) to declare: "If I wanted to vote for George Bush I'd go to America."
An old-fashioned socialist, Mr Zamit refused to buy his council house when Mrs Thatcher was in power because "it wasn't a socialist thing to do".
Frustrated that New Labour had abandoned its core beliefs, he said he would be voting Liberal.
There were quite a few more saying the same thing during a random sample later on Putney High Street.
Peter Bate would be voting Tory as usual and thought Labour's Tony Colman could be in for a fright.
However, Mr Bate didn't expect the Conservatives to win nationally, and admitted he thought Mr Howard's "liar" attack on Mr Blair "a bit common".
Mr Colman is defending a majority of just 2,771. And opinion down the High Street appeared to confirm the local party assessment that Labour's support here is "soft".
Mr Colman opposed the Iraq war, though he abstained and didn't actually rebel against the government.
The good news (if such it is) is that that is not why Mr Henderson, 12 years a Putney voter, has cancelled his party subscription and is voting for Mr Kennedy.
The quietly spoken Scot was outraged by Mr Blair's original attempt to defy London Labour and stop Ken Livingstone becoming mayor.
"I feel very let down by him [ Blair]," said Mr Henderson.
"He thinks he's a religious evangelist."
Ms Smith (who laughed when refusing to give her real name) was more bothered about the state of the National Health Service than the war as she confirmed she too would be switching to the Lib Dems.
Listening in, Yelubillai Mahendran said he would probably be supporting the Liberals in nearby Kingston, somewhat reluctantly confirming this was indeed because of the war.
Mark Cunes, on a weekend visit to friends, would also be switching back home in Weymouth.
Mr Cunes quite admired Mr Blair and knew he had had to make difficult decisions.
But he thought he was "too close to Bush", while "the Liberals now seem a bit more Labour in their views".
Oddly enough Conservative candidate Justine Greening wasn't out and about meeting the voters on this bank holiday Monday.
Her local office said she was spending the day at home dealing with constituency problems. One wondered if these might not have been better left until after the election.
However, Labour sources said the Tories were spending heavily on literature targeted at swing voters. And Alastair Campbell tells us this Tory campaign is one of subterfuge.
Maybe after the criticisms of Mr Howard's campaign these local Tories have decided that low visibility is the way to win.