Dropping the ball

It is difficult to believe at this stage (despite what conflicting polls may tells us) that yesterday's debacle with the phony election pamphlets is not the final straw for John Howard. Making an appalling campaign into a disastrous one, how do you recover?
One savvy commentator noted that the Opposition just has to shut up and do nothing. But it must do nothing! The discipline comes from having the courage to not say "I told you so!", and the discipline to just watch the other side unravel.
Never before has this issue of discipline been so clear for me. What we have witnessed in the Coalition ranks is panic. Being slaughtered all around the troops have gone crazy. At the very time they needed to keep their nerve they have taken the ball into their own hands, and played what ever game they liked with it. Ultimately dropping it with an almighty thump, as they stand back and watch their opponents score goal after goal after goal after....