Desperate PM resorts to social experiment

She's made that abundantly clear during the past fortnight, as she's toured the most parochial states, Queensland and Western Australia, the ones most hostile to the carbon and mining taxes.

Halfway through that nationwide swing, she appeared at the NSW Labor conference to show delegates how determined she was. They gave her a standing ovation after her speech in which she agreed with Tony Abbott's assessment that she wouldn't lie down and die. ''Too right, I won't,'' she said, prompting a thunderous 20 second round of applause.

Significantly, she talked about fighting hard in next year's election without actually declaring she would win. ''I will stand and fight because I know you will stand and fight. And like you did in 2007 and in 2010, I know you will amaze us with your efforts in the 2013 campaign.''

There's no doubting Gillard's determination or toughness but so far neither trait has proven powerful enough to spark confidence in Labor ranks. So why is she even bothering to sit in front of a computer today, for a Google+ Hangout session?

For a start, she needs to engage - and be seen to engage - with sections of the community that are seriously disengaged from politics and disinterested in what politicians have to say.

She will find the bloggers are passionate about many issues including refugees and same-sex marriage.

Questions have been submitted over the past few weeks for Gillard to answer during the session, hosted by Fairfax. The nation was then invited to vote on which questions should be top of the pile.

Among the most voted is a question about heterosexual relationships appearing more valued than same-sex relationships. ''As the first female, atheist, unmarried Prime Minister of Australia, and leader of a self-described socially progressive party, how do you explain your opposition to same-sex marriage and 'deeply held' belief that same-sex couples should continue to be discriminated against by a piece of legislation, the Marriage Act?''

The PM has faced this issue numerous times. However her customary answer will not satisfy the 11,000 people who voted for the question.

The atheist PM will also confront, again, the issue of the national chaplaincy program. ''Why do you allow the outrageous situation to continue where largely unqualified, religious evangelists have access to young children in public schools?''

And she will rebuff the following question with a dismissive wave: ''By how much, measured in thousandths of degrees Celsius, will the Earth's temperature be reduced through the carbon tax?''

Unsurprisingly, there is a question about the decision to subject people in the Northern Territory to 10 more years of interventionist policy.

But on this issue, what is more worrying for the PM than that question is the rebuff by the NSW ALP conference of the federal government's imposition of income management in Bankstown and other communities. A motion supported by right and left-wing unions called on Gillard to review the Stronger Futures legislation that underlies the Northern Territory intervention. So many issues, so many complaints, for her venture into live blogging.

The timing is significant. Today the Greens pose a serious threat to Labor in a state by-election in Melbourne. And today marks three weeks after the introduction of the so-called ''game changer'' carbon tax. Perhaps the bloggers will be able to give Gillard an insight into the question that is bugging Labor MPs - why isn't the compensation for the carbon tax and the tax cuts lifting Labor's support?

There should already have been some ''bang for the buck'' from the handouts two months ago and the tax cuts three weeks ago. But the sad outcome for Labor is there has been no improvement in the polls, despite the government showering hundreds of millions of dollars on voters.

The government clearly expected a quick pick-up in its popularity as soon as the money flowed. Voters were supposed to be very grateful for the money and to also realise that the sky didn't fall in, as predicted by Tony Abbott.

What the government didn't count on was people feeding the extra cash into poker machines, a trend now being reported across the nation.

As a result, the government is now playing down its earlier prediction that the cash would be a quick fix for its popularity problem. The new line is that the pick-up will - should - come as Parliament returns next month.

No matter which way it is spun, the lack of boost so far for the government is a disaster for Gillard. Hence the latest round of leadership chatter. Sure, politicians love to say they don't follow the polls. Pigs.

This spin is another reason why politicians have so little credibility, with the result the messages they really want to be heard are ignored.

Another round of national opinion polls is due out early next week, and Labor is desperate for it to show signs of life.

The overarching question facing very worried caucus members is what do they do if the polls continue to flatline.

How long should they give Gillard? How long is long enough?

The PM has had months of clear air after Kevin Rudd's abortive challenge. But what's happened? The grim reality is that concern about Gillard leading Labor to an electoral wipe-out has morphed into a certainty, at least in the minds of some MPs.

A key Rudd backer insists there is no deadline for a decision on Gillard's future. That is self-evident because Rudd doesn't have the numbers. Some MPs report there is a drift towards the pretender but no one wants to be seen to be disloyal by counting.

Obviously, if Gillard and the government were riding high, the leadership would not be an issue. But the parlous state of the polls guarantees the issue won't go away. It's a constant, subterranean pressure, just itching to burst back into the spotlight.

Which puts Gillard in a no-win situation. Her response is to say, ad nauseum, that the issue was settled earlier this year. If that is the case, the message hasn't reach union bosses or Labor whip Joel Fitzgibbon.

His observation that political leaders who polled badly for a long period of time didn't stay leaders was a statement of the bleeding obvious. But it received prominence - here was a former Rudd backer deciding to project this thought bubble into a highly-charged political environment.

It sounded like he was sick of the spin and thought he might take a chance on airing the truth - his thoughts quickly became synonymous for the general level of frustration in caucus that Gillard is not cutting through.

Ross Peake is Political Editor

Twitter: @rosspeakeCT