Painful rhetoric and limited Lansley at Tory manifesto launch

I'm not much impressed by this morning's launch of the first chapter of the Tories' draft manifesto. The Tories' post-Christmas rhetoric isn't great so far - too simple, too negative. "We can't go on like this" is a dire motto that's unlikely to beat back the January blues. George Osborne warmed up the crowd. Not sure this was wise, as suspect the Osbornes have too much cash to ever find themselves on an NHS waiting list. Dave was next up, with a rather uninspiring speech echoing much of Saturday's bland Obama-ese. Had violent urge to drink a finger of vodka every time he said "change". Two main problems with the whole presentation, however. One - the commitment to ringfence the NHS budget is one of the more questionable aspects of the party's budgeting, so is it really the best issue to springboard a manifesto from? Two - Andrew Lansley, despite the occasional gaffe, is well-informed, personable and good on TV. As shadow health secretary, why wasn't he fronting the launch?