Kevin Rudd asks: who can you trust? Tony Abbott offers: who’s really fair dinkum?

The answer, of course, is Crikey. And only us. Because here’s what we absolutely won’t do, our solemn vow to readers, over the next five weeks …

We WON’T bring preconceived notions to the debate, just policy analysis on its merits and tactics talk from the best political minds, like Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane.

We WON’T beat up particular polls; our elections guru William Bowe will crunch all the data to deliver his poll-of-polls — the best guide to how the parties are tracking.

We WON’T just talk to the pollies and their hacks on the buses; our reporters will get out and about and talk to policy experts and voters on what they think the key issues are.

We WON’T deliver you reams of information you don’t need — just the key announcements and the best commentary, plus all the media noise filtered and distilled by Richard Farmer.

We WON’T take ourselves too seriously; with Guy Rundle on the campaign trail (he files his first dispatch tomorrow) and First Dog on the Moon scribbling from Crikey Campaign HQ there’s no chance of that.

And we WON’T, under any circumstances, no matter what we might think, tell you how to vote — we’ll leave that to The Daily Telegraph. Unlike some editors, we reckon you’re more than intelligent enough to make up your own minds.

That’s fair dinkum election campaign coverage you can really trust.