Who'd be Kevin Rudd for the next five weeks? Still deep in grief, the former prime minister - who arrived back in Australia yesterday - is the candidate the ALP wishes it didn't have. Labor doesn't know how he'll behave before polling day, nor what to do with him in the ministry afterwards, if Julia Gillard is returned.
After the long flight from the US, wife Therese Rein tweeted on landing in Sydney: ''Love the approach over the Pacific with the early morning sun warmly lighting the sandstone cliffs.'' The pair then headed to Canberra to settle son Marcus into a new school term.
Only a few weeks ago, Rudd had his own plane, and a car waiting on the tarmac.
Yesterday's journey through Canberra airport was a test of emotional stamina (and the Rudd temper) as he was confronted by a Channel Seven camera.
''G'day folks - how are you - nice to see you,'' he said, emerging from Gate G, in the first (white) lie of his campaign. There was a tetchy moment - ''You've just got in the road of my wife'' - before a flash of the old Kevin - ''You know something? It's really good to be back in Australia.''
Schoolchildren were a saving diversion.''Hi kids, how are you?'' And so it went on, until he reached the car.
''Will you be a team player, Mr Rudd?'' called reporter Jodie Speers - the question many in Labor are asking.
At Parliament House, a modest backbencher's office awaits Rudd, along with a pile of boxes, some flowers and a few bottles of wine on a high shelf. His staffer, in the office yesterday (of course!), had a statement ready saying his boss would focus on campaigning in his seat of Griffith from Wednesday.
In that harrowing speech after he was tossed out, Rudd announced that he was staying in Parliament. Many colleagues can't understand it. They'd have expected - or hoped - he'd creep away. A few still can't quite believe he won't suddenly disappear. The Liberals searched for a better candidate on the off chance.
He's been seen, but not (publicly) heard. Last week he had a high profile in Washington and New York, seeing the United Nations' Ban Ki-moon and others, but determinedly staying mum with the media.
When Laurie Oakes asked Gillard his bombshell question about her alleged broken deal, many Labor people muttered darkly about Kevin being to blame.
An unknown in the campaign is whether the way Rudd was knifed will affect a significant number of votes. A Galaxy poll published yesterday found 57 per cent agreeing that Rudd's treatment would harm Labor's chances. It's been expected these feelings will fade as election day nears and voters concentrate on the future. But what if Kevin's getting a touch of his old popularity back? A Galaxy poll for Channel Nine last night had 61 per cent believing he should become foreign minister.
The one place where the ''Rudd factor'' is a real question mark is his home state of Queensland. An Age/Nielsen poll this month showed Labor trailing the Coalition there in two-party terms.
Wayne Swan, a fellow Queenslander elevated to Deputy Prime Minister in the wake of Rudd's fall, was in an awkward spot yesterday when asked whether he and Gillard would be campaigning in Griffith. ''If there is a need to campaign in Griffith, I'll certainly campaign there,'' he told Oakes. And was there a role for Rudd in Labor's national campaign? ''There's certainly a role for Kevin Rudd in the Labor Party. He's got a very good record,'' said Swan. ''He's certainly welcome in the campaign.''
Now let's get this straight. Gillard says she felt the need to overthrow Rudd because his government had lost its way, right? But Swan says Rudd's got a very good record and is welcome in the campaign. All a bit confusing for Kevin, who, his spokesman says, will be ''focused on the government's re-election''.
Perhaps he could move forward and adopt for campaign purposes the old devotional song: ''Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound/ That saved a wretch like me/ I once was lost but now am found/ Was blind, but now, I see.''
Of course, Rudd's real salvation will only come if he can, post-election, persuade Gillard, if she's still PM, to give him that foreign affairs job. And that could depend on whether he is seen in the next few weeks as a ''team player''.
Michelle Grattan is Age political editor.
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