Today in Crikey, Bernard Keane touches on the Prime Minister’s emerging weakness:

“… being able to tick off election commitments on a list masks the fundamental truth that Rudd oversold himself as being cognisant of voter concerns and willing to address them, in a way that Howard, even at his Big Government worst, was never prepared to do. There’s a credibility gap that can’t be addressed no matter how often Rudd recites his list of kept promises, a feeling that he is less than what he offered …”

Rudd’s bubble hasn’t exactly burst, but it has definitely deflated this week.

Which reminds us of our own cartoonists’ famed, highly nuanced and multi-layered representation of Rudd.

First imagined in the heady days of Kevin 07, through the infuriating Solid-Rolled-Gold-Magic-Pudding era, and now, as the leader’s popularity receives its first real pin prick — Rudd as balloon head:

balloonhead

No doubt Rudd will be crowing about this morning’s job figures. But we cannot help returning to the balloon. An essentially empty, floating, anchorless vessel, full of hot air. Right, Dog?

“No, it’s just that he’s got a head that looks like a balloon.”

Poll that, Nielsen.