Who won the news cycle? Tea trolley talk gives the day to Tony

Now I know that the actual television audience for last night’s quite fascinating public meeting with the two party leaders at Rooty Hill RSL will have had very small ratings but the influence of such an event is  not only on those who actually see it.

The chat around the tea trolley (or water cooler for you Gen Yers) where those who did have a look give their impressions to their colleagues has an impact as well. So too does the verdict of those on the morning television and radio shows.

On this score Wednesday was a good day for Tony Abbott. The conventional part of the day’s campaigning was nothing out of the ordinary by him or by Julia Gillard but talking to a group of seemingly quite ordinary Sydney-siders saw the Opposition Leader thrive. He clearly has done this kind of performance before — as he explained when he descended from the state to be on the same level as his audience. The Prime Minister seemed less relaxed sitting on her on-stage stool but then she did get the tougher questions.

The night made me think that the Liberal minders have made a mistake by not allowing their man to engaged in further appearances with the PM. A debate where the questions come from the floor, as in the one after the other format of last night, would beat having questions asked by journalists hands down.

While I have the campaign about level pegging, the Crikey Election Indicator which measures what the market thinks will happen on election day, has moved decisively in Labor’s favour this week.