He is Mr. Competence; he has to become Mr. Confidence.
But what of Mr Osborne's competence?
These groups' parent companies vary enormously in their competence, Mr Ramachandran notes.
Mr Rühe's competence has never been in question, either when he was his party's general-secretary or when he served as defence minister.
By shifting the issue from toughness to managerial competence, Mr Davis has drawn blood from the government without harming his own party.
How America is faring Pups and perps Professors as judges Landrieu's end Rick Perry's no-frills airline Clarification ReprintsInsiders praise Mr Carter's competence and experience.
If Labour's main area of weakness is communication rather than competence, Mr Johnson, a natural on television, may be the cure.
"Another Torrent BP Works to Stem: its CEO" was the headline in The New York Times yesterday on an article focused less on Mr Hayward's competence as an executive than on his skills as a communicator.
Once Britain's ejection from Europe's exchange-rate mechanism on "Black Wednesday" had destroyed the Tories' reputation for economic competence, Mr Major was unable to benefit from the subsequent economic recovery.
The lean, silver-haired Mr Stoiber radiates competence, authority, control.Angela Merkel, the Christian Democrats' leader, appears in contrast to be almost a country bumpkin, woefully lacking the qualities needed to govern the country in troubled times.
For that reason, despite the Conservatives' more popular leader and strong lead in polls about economic competence, Mr Cameron's party is not pulling ahead.Another factor is that the Labour ground campaign is much stronger than that of the Conservative Party.
