Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video And so, Rudd began his day in Melbourne, where he rose early to take a constitutional with a horde of volunteers decked out in ''It's Our Ruddy Future'' campaign T-shirts. After a brief walk and the customary selfie-fest that gathers around Rudd wheresoever he goes, the Prime Minister left his volunteers to unleash himself upon the undecided voters of Melbourne. Busy bee: Kevin Rudd meets workers at a Melbourne cabling company. Credit:Andrew Meares That was when television crews filmed a campaign manager asking for the T-shirts back.

The volunteers dutifully peeled them off, revealing their own clothes beneath, a sort of reverse Superman routine. The T-shirts were packed into a box for the next photo op. Or to be made into a commemorative patchwork quilt. Or maybe future generations will wear them as ironic vintage items. Onwards to a Melbourne cabling company which holds a $1.5 billion contract to provide a ''full suite of end-to-end products'' for the government's national broadband network project. Amid giants coils of green cable, Rudd met workers (who were delighted by him) and then paused to feed the media who travel with him like courtiers (if courtiers were cynical and slightly hostile instead of sycophantic). After some opening remarks about the benefits of the network and the welcome news of the national accounts figures, just released, which showed modest economic growth in the last quarter, Rudd took questions. Absurdist drama: Kevin Rudd maintains he can win, despite the negative polls. Credit:AAP Did he plan on staying on as the member for Griffith even if Labor lost the election on Saturday?

''My intention is to serve the people of Griffith as their PM,'' he said. Asked to guarantee he would serve the people of Griffith even if he wasn't their PM (or anyone else's for that matter), Rudd deftly turned the subject to the prospect of a recession. He demanded Abbott guarantee he would not throw us into one with his dreaded cuts. ''If you're in the workforce, and if you're under 40 years of age, you have never experienced a recession,'' Rudd said, then attempted to single out members of the press pack he believed to be under 40. Loading One unlucky photographer was told he didn't make the cut, a gag which stirred only patchy laughter. As the election nears its close, we all feel a little older.