some fathers do 'ave 'em

The problem with having Papa Howard go in to bat for little Pete is that it infantilises Debnam, making him look pitifully weak: the implication is that Debnam can't do it on his own. Conversely, it makes Howard look strong because it denies that Howard has Federal troubles, which he does. (I've noticed that one thing Howard often does well is appear to have the strength of his convictions. It's just that his convictions frequently turn out to be hopelessly wrong.)
Still, the people who are marketing Peter Debnam have been doing well to turn his image around lately, with most of his press showing him as a smiling Mr Nice Guy. Labor can counter this by giving us plenty of reminder footage of "attack dog Debnam"'s ridiculous behavior in Parliament last year.
Anyway, no matter how bad State Labor's position might look, there's just something about Iemma that Debnam can't fake and Howard can't implant for him. Credibility or leadership quality or something.