Heading into this election season, the contest was glibly described as Malcolm Turnbull's to lose. How prophetic, because that seems to be precisely what he has been busy doing. Losing it.

The observation had been intended as a statement of his sheer dominance - as a creative way of describing how supremely unlikely a come-from-behind Labor win was, given (i) the history of federal elections, (ii) the recent ugly period of Rudd-Gillard, (iii) the stark electoral arithmetic facing it now; and, (iv) the solid popularity edge Turnbull enjoyed over the unfashionable Bill Shorten.

In the absence of some critical error in government costings, or an outbreak of destabilising Rudd-like echoes from its own bitter leadership ructions via Tony Abbott, then there was not really much Labor could do to peg back the Coalition.