just as Karl Marx once claimed that he probably wasn't a Marxist, so one of the more mysterious things about Gordon Brown is that he hasn't turned out to be a Brownite, and the abiding impression of grim continuity has been underpinned by a depressing political trinity: market-worship, Blair-esque public service reform and a refusal to prise open the forbidden subject of equality.
I can only agree with John Harris, writing at Comment is Free. He, like me, feels a distinct disappointment after yesterday's speech. I think he's right that a mood is crystallising among many people that's actually very welcoming to more radical, traditionally left-wing ideas - like taking the better off more heavily and regulating more firmly to prevent future creidt crunches - and that the hard pity is that Labour's leader can't seize on this. Simon Jenkins, writing in the Guardian, was more positive than Harris or me about the speech, but I think he may be right about Brown's unshiftability.
The Labour leader is a big beast who is not going to go quietly. Blair's constitutional reform ensured that any toppling would be bloody, and probably require a split in the party's upper echelon. This would increase calls for a swift general election, at which the party would be devastated. The only MPs stupid enough to want that are ones whose seats are safe, and there are few of those at present.
I, too, have a feeling he may still make it all the way to 2010. Increasingly, I fear it.
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