HOW deliciously sweet it was to see the former prime minister, John Howard, recently accepting life membership in the Liberal Party he all but destroyed during his lengthy tenure. (''Look kids, I shrunk the party'').

There he was again on TV, as pugnacious as ever

(don't you just love him?), kicking Kevin Rudd and

anointing his beleaguered, befuddled and between-

jobs successor, Brendan (''What do you mean,

climate change?'') Nelson. The Howard kiss of death.

This all just shows the Libs have short memories,

ignore public opinion, and have learnt nothing from

their historical electoral rout. Howard, meantime, is

the usual stubborn bloke, backing yet another loser

about as popular as Vegemite on an Iced Vo Vo.

Howard's poor judgement in endorsing Nelson

also shows his vindictive feelings towards his

former heir-apparent Peter Costello haven't changed. There was never any love lost between the pair; call it Sydney v Melbourne animosity.

Meanwhile, Costello is playing a childish game of silence,

allowing continued speculation he might seize the

leadership after his autobiographical book is

released in September.

I reckon it's just a marketing stunt to sell more books. Despite the mountain of speculation that he may take over from Nelson, I don't believe it for a minute.

Would you want to be the leader of the Liberals

backed up by Malcolm (born to rule) Turnbull? I certainly

wouldn't.

What part of ''no'' does the press corps not understand? After the election last year Costello

said, pointedly, that he'd consulted his wife and family and decided to seek his fortune in the private sector.

Since then he's virtually retired to the backbench

and said very little while completing his memoirs.

Nothing's changed. Costello's going and not before time, despite knocking back a plum job worth $2 million dollars a year in Europe.

Frankly, Costello doesn't have the cojones for the

job - and never did. Leadership takes more than a sharp-tongue in Parliament. It's about carpa diem - seizing the day, and Costello never could. He didn't have the ticker nor the hunger. He wouldn't take on Howard when he could, and when leadership was virtually his later, he didn't want it.

Frankly, the sooner all of Howard's team hit the

road, the better, Nelson included. The Liberals need

a new image and policies. I'll take a bet on this

prediction - Mitchell MP Alex Hawke will not lead them to the next election, but Malcolm Turnbull will.