COMMENT Former New York governor Mario Cuomo once observed that politicians campaign in poetry but govern in prose.

His dictum meant that winning support on the campaign trail requires gauzy rhetoric, the beguiling of crowds with tantalising possibilities, and the conjuring away of problems just because people want a leader to do so.

In contrast, the prose of governing demanded negotiation with recalcitrant partners, the necessity for compromise, often messy and maddening, satisfaction with partial or incremental improvements, and half victories that leave principals unhappy and supporters disgruntled.

Campaigning can be vague but governing has to be specific. Being good at the former does not translate into prowess at the latter...