IN ONE of the few briefings he has given to journalists since taking office, the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, yesterday said the Rainbow parties had 78 outgoing TDs in the field and needed only an extra six to form the next government.
By contrast, the alternative coalition of Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats had only 66 outgoing TDs seeking re-election and needed an extra 18.
According to the Taoiseach, this situation means the Rainbow is "much closer" to establishing "a stable majority government for five years".
Asked if the polls did not show Fianna Fail and the PDs as the people's favoured option, Mr Bruton said the polls did not indicate how seats would be distributed in individual constituencies. In the event of a hung Dail, he would, "if needs be", seek the support of Independents.
Meanwhile, Mr Bruton strongly objected yesterday morning to a "package" profiling him that preceded a radio interview with Pat Kenny. He described it as "a knocking job" and an attempt to pick a "quirky" thing to criticise rather than look at his overall record as a politician.
"It is hard enough to keep the public engaged in politics without those who are engaged in political commentary treating politics as if it is a form of music hall entertainment," he added.
While the Fianna Fail leader was a decent, honourable person", he was "not particularly suitable to the task to which he now aspires" and was "indecisive Mr Bruton said.
With the Government campaign now in overdrive, the Taoiseach drew on a football analogy, saying "timing is everything".
"We are raising the temperature of the campaign now because now is the time to put the choice before the people. People need it. The public would have grown tired if the campaign was carried on at a high pitch for three weeks. People would say, `Ah God, would they ever shut up'," he said.
Denying he was showing "classic signs of panic", he said this was the "Fianna Fail message", self-interested and without foundation.
Following reports that he had given his "handlers" the "back scat", Mr Bruton said he was never "handled". He had not given interviews before because he did not want to. His job was to run the Government and not to take credit or make announcements for other people.
Identifying jobs and mortgages as "the two key issues" in the election, Mr Bruton said the Government could not claim exclusive credit for the improved situation. However, an unstable government would lead to tensions over investment, and some of the jobs being created now would not come into being under an FF/PD alliance.
Mr Ahern, he said, should agree to debate all the issues with him before Wednesday night's head-to-head debate on RTE. This was an intelligent electorate that demanded answers to serious questions.
"Alfie Byrne politics are grand. Alfie Byrne was a Fine Gael man and also a Redmondite in fact. But I think we need more than what Alfie could offer," Mr Bruton added.
The election was a choice between two governments and two visions of Ireland. The tax issue, which had disappeared from the campaign agenda, was fundamentally a "values issue".
Tax proposals such as those presented by the Opposition, which concentrated on reducing rates, were "wrong" because the policy involved giving disproportionate benefits to those on above-average incomes.