The Progressive Labour Party heads into its annual conference today, with rumours of coups and leadership challenges swirling around once again.

The reasons for the rumours are fairly clear.

Premier Dr. Ewart Brown's popularity and approval ratings are in George W. Bush territory.

The Island is facing the possibility of recession, for which it is ill-prepared, not least because of the Premier's propensity for spending others people's money.

Dr. Brown's own Tourism Ministry, which he has constantly used as an example of his effectiveness and managerial ability, is facing enormous difficulties, not all of them due to external factors.

Although it may seem shallow, there is a growing unease with the Premier's own style of "imperial premiership".

The over the top entourage and the appearance of being more comfortable in a limo or on a jet than on the street all contribute to this. Bermudians have consistently shown that they like their leaders to show a little humility and to remember who they are elected to serve.

Perhaps more serious is the sense that Dr. Brown likes to rule rather than lead and seems to relish causing conflict and division.

Occasionally one hears favourable comparisons being made between Dr. Brown and Sen. Barack Obama, as if they are cut from the same cloth. In fact they couldn't be more different.

Sen. Obama genuinely seeks to bring people together, to acknowledge resentments and insecurities of all parties and then to bring people forward together. Dr. Brown's expressed goal, at least in the so-called Big Conversation, is to cause discomfort and to engage in what might loosely be called creative destruction, and then in theory, anyway, to rebuild. In that sense, Sen. Obama is a man of the 21st Century and Dr. Brown is still a man of 1960s student radicalism.

At the risk of expressing too much self interest, Dr. Brown has also shown a willingness (supported by his Cabinet) to use the powers of Government, both financial and legal, to try to destroy those who have the temerity to disagree with him.

So if there's a case to be made for the removal of Dr. Brown (and Julian Hall argues the case for retention on this page), the question is whether anyone in the PLP has the desire to challenge at a time when the party could still hold power for as much as four years to go.

Despite his low poll numbers, Dr. Brown still has a dedicated following and the party has the comfort of knowing that the Opposition United Bermuda Party is in disarray. That's a very different scenario from 2006 when Dr. Brown and his followers wielded the long knives on Alex Scott.

And Dr. Brown can also rest easy that the only serious contender for his job, Finance Minister Paula Cox, shows a Mario Cuomo-like reluctance to grasp the nettle. If Dr. Brown was facing a contender with the same overweening ambition and ruthlessness as, well, Dr. Brown, then this might be a very different story.

As ever, Dr. Brown is wielding his powers of office to good effect. It is no coincidence that he took time on the Island's television stations this week to talk about the economy.

And with no disrespect to Sports Minister Elvin James, this week's demolition of Somerset Bridge Cricket Club, when there are neither plans, timelines nor budgets for the proposed sports centre in place, bears all the hallmarks of electioneering, both for the conference and the upcoming by-election.

For previous examples of this kind of cynicism, look no further than the "groundbreaking" for new and still unbuilt housing at Southside and the jump starting of work on the still vacant and unrenovated St. George's Police Station before last year's election.

It may well be that there will be no challenge to Dr. Brown at this conference. But potential candidates will know that there will be other opportunities over the next two years, and the Premier would be wise to listen to criticism rather than ignore it.

Indeed, even as avid a fan of Dr. Brown as Mr. Hall is, he says on this page that the Premier has some " 'splaining" to do and advocates that he reach out to the branches to do just that. That's good advice.