Julia languishes as Tony takes a sabbatical

THE latest net satisfaction ratings for the leaders - the percentage of voters satisfied with their performance minus those dissatisfied - barely moved from two weeks ago. Julia Gillard's rating is at -25, up two points, while Tony Abbott's is steady at -13.

The primary and two-party-preferred votes for the major parties also did not change.

Eternal Labor optimists might say at least things did not get worse for the government. In truth, they did. The Opposition Leader has been on holidays, not out in the daily media executing his negative message against the carbon tax.

While Abbott's personal numbers aren't high, his value to the opposition has been the damage he has done to Labor's brand, the Prime Minister's in particular. That Labor continues to struggle in the polls with Abbott overseas tells you something about how hard political redemption for the government is likely to be.

When Malcolm Turnbull was Liberal leader in 2009, a senior colleague of his pointed out to me that Turnbull's poor polling numbers improved when he travelled abroad, visiting troops in Afghanistan. "But he can't stay there forever. The Australian Defence Force would never allow it", the MP said.

Perhaps Abbott wouldn't have minded an improvement for Labor and Gillard while he was abroad, to highlight his value in suppressing Labor's vote. Probably not; momentum can be dangerous.

There is plenty of scuttlebutt around the place that Labor MPs are getting nervous about whether Gillard is politically terminal. Alternative names are being bandied around, such as Stephen Smith, Simon Crean, Greg Combet and even Bill Shorten. A post-operation Kevin Rudd is also an option, but only in the eyes of journalists filling column centimetres.

Gillard should have time on her side, but to do what? All she is doing is languishing in the polls while Abbott holidays overseas. Who would you rather be?