Enter the battle buses and campaign caravans!
Elections wouldn't be elections without John Prescott and a battle bus. And it was out in Carlisle today, at the start of a tour of 50 marginal constituencies.
But as I've mentioned before, the 2010 battle bus is a little more compact than previous models - in fact, let's be honest, it's a mini-bus.
I did have the cheek to ask Mr Prescott whether its size was a reflection of Labour's lower poll ratings this time.
He put it down to lack of money though, but he also said it suited his purposes better in this campaign.
He wants to go to the estates where traditional Labour voters may have turned away from the party, so a smaller bus - he says - gives him greater flexibility to reach the parts a big coach couldn't.
And size clearly isn't everything because the former Deputy PM and his bus attracted a fair old media scrum.
So cue the routine with his pledge card and some tubthumping against the Tories.
But the choice of Carlisle as the first stop on his tour shows the city's importance in this election, and the fact that Labour knows the city is under threat.
It's one of the Labour seats the Conservatives need to win to get a Commons majority.
Sitting MP Eric Martlew is standing down so local councillor and Labour candidate Michael Boaden has to build a profile quickly.
He was certainly keen to be seen with Mr Prescott as they went off to look at the city's new flood defences, and meet some voters.
But I went to catch up with the Conservatives in the city centre. No battle bus for them, instead it was more of a - I don't know - a conflict caravan?
Their candidate is local solicitor John Stevenson, and he told me he's spoken to plenty of disillusioned Labour voters on the doorsteps.
The trick though will be persuading them to switch to the Tories to overturn a 4,000 vote majority (whittled down by boundary changes).
The Liberal Democrats came third in 2005, but their candidate Neil Hughes may influence the result by taking votes from his rivals.
Ken Clarke is in the North East for the Conservatives tomorrow. First Blair, then Prescott, and next Clarke. Am I in a time warp?
I'm Richard Moss, the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú's Political Editor for the North East and Cumbria. Welcome to my irreverent - but hopefully insightful - northern take on reporting politics for Look North and the Politics Show.
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