So the recall of parliament on Friday to debate British bombing raids against Islamic State (Isis) in Iraq, and possibly also in Syria, is a defining pre-election test for the Labour leader in a sense that this week's speech, wallowing in its warm, bland bath of decency and togetherness, was not.
If the election were a test for democracy, the country has broadly managed to pass it, but in doing so Mr Saakashvili has committed himself to more to come.
Presidential elections test likeability.
This highlights the importance of the selection criteria used to define democracy and competitive elections when testing for political budget cycles.
The election is a key test for Ethiopia, coming five years after a disputed election ended in violence and dozens of opposition supporters who had taken to the streets were shot dead.
The unanswered question for me is why support for Israel seems to be a litmus test for election to national office.
The generational and theological shifts in the evangelical world are turning the next election into a credibility test for the conservative Christian establishment.
"We are in an election season, and the test for any candidate is whether they can produce results," Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House majority leader, said after the jobs bill passed.
John Boaler Calne, Wiltshire Labour opponents of Jeremy Corbyn are reported as saying that Labour's Oldham triumph was "in spite of" Corbyn (Convincing win in Oldham for Corbyn's first electoral test, 4 December); yet when there were earlier thoughts of Labour not winning, opponents insisted that the election would be a test for Corbyn's leadership, with his being blamed for any loss.
But much of the focus will be on Ohio, a must-win state for Republicans in the general election and an important test for Mr. Romney and Mr. Santorum as they try to prove that they can expand their bases of support.
"We are in an election season, and the test for any candidate is whether they can produce results," said Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House majority leader, after he was asked about Representative Jean Schmidt's loss Tuesday in her Republican primary in Ohio.
