Weather the storm, and then it’s no more Mr Nice Guy for Scott Morrison

Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese at the Australian War Memorial on Monday. Picture: Gary Ramage

Scott Morrison is living Lyndon Johnson’s satirical metaphor that once likened the US presidency to being a jackass in a hailstorm. “There’s nothing to do but to stand there and take it.”

When the pile-on is on, it’s on. There is nothing Morrison can do about it other than to weather the storm.

While the Prime Minister is the target of a co-ordinated campaign to fillet his personal integrity, he is also a leader suffering under the vicissitudes of longevity.

This is a theme Anthony Albanese has tried hard to exploit – in the absence of a well-defined agenda of his own – aided by internal enemies, activists and journalists armed with historical grievances.

The longer a government is in power, the more baggage it accumulates, and the greater a target it becomes.

The worst thing Morrison or any of his colleagues could do is to surrender to the siege mentality that often infects a government under attack.

There is still a pandemic to manage and a country to run.

He may well be thankful this has all happened when it has, and not during the middle of the election campaign. But who knows how many hand grenades are yet to be discharged.

Events are unlikely to be any more favourable for Morrison for the next two weeks.

The colosseum of parliament will test the government’s resolve with Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce – and his character assessments of Morrison – bound to dominate the blood sport.

For his party room on Tuesday, Morrison will have a simple message. Hold your nerve. We’ve been here before. And we win when we are united.

There is nothing Morrison can do but keep his head down and focus on the main game.

The more the government buys into to the fun and games, the worse it will make it for itself.

The feedback on the ground, according to colleagues, is that Morrison needs to show some muscle and desist with the pretence of the nice guy, consistently seeking compromise.

There are those in his party room who suggest he should have accepted Joyce’s resignation. Those same voices are infuriated at the tactical decision to kowtow to WA Premier Mark McGowan on border closures.

In the end, it’s less about the substance of what some loose colleagues may have had to say about Morrison in the past than the crippling distractions they generate.

The government, as it appears to punters at the moment, is one that is responding to events, and controversies, rather than one with a clear direction.