From the moment that Abbott took over the leadership of the opposition Labor, and its attack dogs Getup etc thought that this was a gift from heaven. The relatively undisciplined minister that was Abbott would be easy to discredit, and the coalition would collapse under a sustained attack as a result.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/transformation-of-tony-abbott/story-e6frezz0-1226397580818

The reality, is that Abbott has sharpened up his act, stopped the gaffes, exerted discipline on his caucus, and allowed himself to take all the hits from the Labor / Green coalition whilst exerting a controlled and unrelenting attack on Labor's policies and management.

The result is that while his personal popularity has suffered, Labor has fallen from a 2pp position of 54/46 to 45/55, and labor ministers are dreading door knocking because of the anger displayed by the average voter. The polling is indicating that Abbott is likely to be the most unpopular leader to win by a landslide.

The final stage is in the run up to an election to present a viable alternative government. To do this he needs to produce a collection of well thought out policies, and a cabinet well versed in its execution. However, in doing this he has to be careful not to show his hand too soon, as this would give Labor a chance to divert attention from their own policy problems, and neutralize his better policies by adopting them as their own.

Good Morning Shadow Minister,

Mr Abbott has always been a divisive figure
even within his own party. As Norman Abjorensen
tells us, " Mr Abbott is not known for his policy
work. He was at best a wayward minister and his
wild policy gyrations in Opposition on coal-fired power
stations, coal seam gas explorations, asylum seekers and
industrial relations for instance suggest chaos rather
than stability."

One thing is obvious - Mr Abbott's ambition. His
overriding drive to be PM. In the past candidates for
PM, ambition was accompanied by talent, eloquence,
intelligence, and shrewdness. Menzies - a towering intellect,
Whitlam - broad popular appeal of the conciliator, Hawke -
great communicator, and so on. Each in his own way shone
out from the pack.

Mr Abbott has offered little in the way of vision.
The scattergun tactics in Opposition which can, and do,
rattle a government simply don't translate well in office.

Whether Mr Abbott has any statesman like qualities,
and whether he can eject more into the role of PM remains
yet to be seen. He may just turn out to be exactly
what he appears - a "one trick pony!"

Of course, a less pandering translation of your comment would be：

A) Abbott was previously prone to gaffes, and has managed to reduce that.
B) He attacks everything Labor does regardless of what he really thinks.
C) He hasn't articulated any positions of his own.

The relentless negativity is a neat trick, actually, given that Abbott's own economic minister has more-or-less admitted that the Australian economy is in fantastic shape.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/world-hears-joe-hockeys-praise-for-economy/story-fn59niix-1226383696108

It does indeed take some impressive sophistry to simultaneously admit the country's doing well and pretend that all hell is breaking loose under the current government. But hey, that's what he does.

Lexi,

That Abbott has a huge drive for power is not a surprise, as given federal politics, this is a pre requisite for survival, and puts him in the same league as Rudd and Gillard (who knifed Rudd days after promising that she had no ambitions as PM, and was prepared to trash Rudd to the detriment of Labor). As a Rhodes scholar, there are few in the Labor party that can match his intellect.

Bleating that the tactics used for bringing down the government don't translate effectively into office, is a bit of a stupid comment, considering that stellar policies of any opposition aren't worth the paper they are written on without the power to implement them. Abbott has a team headed up by Sinodinos (a respected policy wonk) developing the liberal policies, whilst Tony focuses on getting to power to implement them. As PM, Abbott's job will to ensure that policies are developed and implemented efficiently not necessarily to do it all himself. Given his displayed ability to manage the coalition through opposition, this is exactly what is required in office.

Given the state of the polls, Abbott has performed spectacularly, destroying Rudd in Months, and bringing Gillard and Labor to where the electorate is no longer listening, and the major states have humiliated labor.

If Tony tranforms to much more he might lose his popularity. It seems pretty dumb to change to much when you have led your party from being down 52/48 in the polls to being consintantly in front 55/45. On the other hand Ms Gillard has taken her party from 52/48 ahead to 45/55. I think SM has fallen for the ABC drivel. Hopefully Tony's ambition won't compromise him enough to stab one of his own in the back to gain power. Smart people learn from others muistakes. He needs to just do the opposite to our economic mismanagers, our untruthworthy PM and sleazy indepenants who are not independant. He will then be the next PM. 1000 cheers!

A party is not served by such blindness.
Anthony Abbott is the same fool he always has been, his opponent is worse.
Maths really, given the choice, it is clear the mad monk will look better.
In my letter box our Tony's letter has arrived, an answer it nearly says, to Labors budget.
We all got one, get yours out, mine is irretrievable, on its way through the recycle system.
Look at Abbott's eyes!
Shudder if you must!
Mine had to go, I am against frightening little children.
But in truth, that it the better side of the bloke, ugly as it is, his inability to put policy's that do not SCREAM a warning! HE WILL GOVERN for big wealth and power, reward Gina tax pensioners, alarms me.