The schoolboy shoplifter or the dangerous weakling?

R Behr has been doing some research (not just attending dinner parties or tweeting  -- an encouraging sign) 

I have been visiting constituencies, trailing candidates and phoning activists to get some sense (away from opinion polls) of what is going on

 It's mixed news:

suspicion of Corbyn has crystallised into something harder for Labour to crack...The word “dangerous” comes up a lot, as does “weak”.

The beef:

A second change is that leavers did not think Brexit was in serious peril at the last election. May looked set to do the business. Besides, Corbyn pledged to honour the referendum mandate. Now he wants a second vote, and seems shifty on the whole subject. In 2017, pro-Brexit voters who hated the idea of switching to the Tories could find reasons to stick with Labour. This time they might not take any chances.

On ideological themes it is still old hat:

The most cunning inflection in Johnson’s rhetoric is his portrayal of EU withdrawal as something mundane, “oven ready”, “just add water”...It is dishonest to depict Brexit as a chore when it is closer to a revolution [!]...Johnson is speaking to undecided voters who are predisposed to see Corbyn as a crackpot...

Smaller parties are being squeezed.

But there is still hope:

Johnson’s personal brand clashes with a campaign built on trust and getting stuff done. His record bears no scrutiny on either trait. His public performances are not as brittle and alienating as May’s were, but nor does he sound vastly more professional than Corbyn...Johnson’s appeal is weaker with women,[!]  and falls away among younger voters. If the latter account for the late surges that have been reported in electoral registration, the demographics of the race could be markedly altered in Labour’s favour. All sides are expecting the race to tighten...Tory candidates are braced for a shock [but] Brexit fatigue and dread of Corbyn are carrying them towards the finish line

Who was responsible for all that fatigue I wonder? Meanwhile Behr uses his great talents to SEE:

You see it written on Johnson’s face too, at unguarded moments: the flicker of a guilty smile, the glint of disbelief around the eyes that, yes, he really is getting away with this; the furtive shuffle, like a schoolboy shoplifter, with unearned electoral advantage stuffed down his trousers, sidling past the checkout hoping not to trigger any alarms before polling day.

For Graunistas it seems similar to the dilemma for the French electorate two (?) presidential elections ago. They had the choice between  'the fascist or the crook'. We have  'the schoolboy shoplifter or the dangerous weakling' .  

G Monbiot scours the party manifestos and submits them to a searching and detailed critique on our behalf  (Such sweet innocence! As if manifestos still mean anything!):

For the first time ever, environmental policies are now central, almost everywhere. But they have scarcely been mentioned in most of the coverage...

The best manifestos lead to one choice -- well two:  

A vote for the planet means a vote for Labour or the Greens

 Not terribly helpful, but The Graun might be able to help us decide with its lead story:

Jeremy Corbyn reveals dossier 'proving NHS up for sale'

And there might be further advice in the shocking revelation in this Spotlight item: 

Many Spanx: how did shapewear become a political battleground?

Fascinating stuff for elderly men, lengthy and lavishly illustrated. Who knew there were these crucial political issues, viciously sidelined in this election campaign by the phallogocentric media, no doubt:

[There is] an imaginary feminism graph with “books read” on the X-axis and “knickers worn” on the Y-axis?...Victoria’s Secret has... turned women’s bodies into luridly compelling content, and in doing so turned underwear into a political battleground....millennials are driving a shapewear boom.... the question: “Shapewear is anti-feminist, right?”...disrupting the shapewear and lingerie worlds with an authentic celebration of all women....Whether or not shapewear has truly developed in philosophy...essential for a generation that wants a high, prominent bottom as well as a small waist.