Bertie no longer meets expectations and will go sooner than we think

Expectations are the great double-edged sword of politics.

You can create them yourself as a candidate. You can confound the expectations of others and gain huge political momentum. But if you win, you have to live up to the expectations you have created, or that have been created around you

POLITICS is ultimately all about expectations — creating them, confounding them, living up to them. Expectations make and unmake politicians to a far greater extent than any other external factor in politics. Expectations now represent the greatest dilemma that Bertie Ahern has faced in his political career.