Today's launch of his pre-election "mini-manifesto" represents a defining moment for Mr William Hague. The term is overworked in much political journalism. However, the stakes could hardly be higher for the Conservative leader as he sets out his "Believing in Britain" stall.
For after an apparent recovery in May and June, support for the Conservatives is once again falling - the party is stuck around the same level of support it held during the 1997 election rout.
What is more, leading Conservative commentators - like key independent analysts - are beginning to think the unthinkable; namely, that the result of the next election could be about as bad for the Conservatives as the last, if not worse.
With Mr Blair safely on holiday and not a leaked memo from focus group guru Philip Gould in sight, three polls in as many weeks have confirmed Labour entering the party conference season with a 10 to 12-point lead.
According to the "Kellner-Sanders index" in Sunday's Observer, the Prime Minister is on course to claim his second term with a three-figure majority in the House of Commons. Indeed, on current projections Mr Kellner and Prof Sanders suggest Mr Blair's majority might slip by just eight, from 179 to 171.
Such a result would have obvious and immediate implications for Mr Hague's leadership of the Conservatives after the general election. Crucially, it would also have a potentially decisive knock-on effect in the referendum on membership of the single currency which would surely swiftly follow.
Hence the promise to halt the tide of Euro-federalism, and to preserve the UK's right to remain a self-governing nation within the European Union, will be central to the big-picture Conservative vision Mr Hague unveils this morning.
It should be a vote winner. An ICM poll published to coincide with yesterday's launch of a £2 million advertising campaign by Business for Sterling showed 69 per cent of Britons opposed to scrapping the pound, with just 23 per cent in favour.
And in a surprise warning shot to Euro-enthusiasts within the cabinet, the poll showed young people (18 to 24) to be the most sceptical, with opposition running at 80 per cent.
For all their nervousness, some Conservative strategists believe the European issue will enable Mr Hague to narrow the gap significantly, as fears build that a runaway victory for Labour in the election would provide the necessary momentum for a Yes vote in a euro referendum held soon thereafter.
However, the general election is unlikely to turn on a single issue, especially when the issue in question is "foreign". So Mr Hague has much to do, and little time in which to do it, if he is to be in the forefront of the battle to save sterling when finally it comes.
Central to that is moving his party back into contention - not to win the general election, but to provide a real opposition, and thus cast the outcome of any euro referendum in doubt. If this morning Mr Hague evinces a capacity to do that, a lot of traditional Tories will sleep more easily in their beds tonight.
PA adds: The Tory former deputy prime minister, Mr Michael Heseltine, disclosed yesterday that he never believed he would be leader of the Conservative Party despite evidence to the contrary.
The MP, who is to stand down at the next general election, and whose memoir, Life in the Jungle, is being published this week, said he always believed Tory ex-chancellor Mr Kenneth Clarke should have led the party.