Scott Morrison is looking more like the clumsy stooge in a country and western film than a prime minister fighting for his political life.

And the way he continues to wear that grin is as unfathomable as some of the decisions he’s owning.

As the nation gears up for an election, he seems almost hellbent on making decisions that ignore community attitudes.

It shows Scott Morrison out of touch, with much more clarity than an inability to nominate the price a carton of milk or loaf of bread.

Why wouldn’t he defer or re-consider religious discrimination legislation on the back of genuine concern – not from tiny minorities or fringe groups, but from families and academics and researchers and even MPs sitting alongside him?

Has he consulted medicos or psychologists or educators about the impact a few lines in his legacy law will have?

Did he listen to Labor MP Stephen Jones, paying tribute to his teen nephew, who took his own life earlier this year?

“He was gay, he was uncertain about his gender … but now he’s gone and we’re no longer able to love and support him on his journey through life,” Jones said.

“It’s about all of our kids, about the families of those kids, every child who’s had the courage to swim against the tide, just to be who they are.”

Many on the Liberal side get this. And they can’t ignore how this bill will feed discrimination, ignore the plight of many families, and run counter to how the community thinks.

If the strategy behind this law is simply to pander to a political base and drive a wedge between the two main parties, Scott Morrison doesn’t understand younger voters, including those in his own party, or what inclusive leadership is all about.

But it’s not only those targeted by his party’s latest legislative offering. The way young leaders like Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins have been excluded goes to how this government now values women voters – whether they run companies or families, schools or not-for-profit endeavours.

That lack of understanding and the lack of inclusivity, including to the young woman who has worn the Australian of the Year badge, is puzzling in both its short-sightedness and its execution.

But this odd political strategy stretches beyond targeting young people and women, to older voters.

COVID19 has been our foe now, for more than two years. Protecting our elderly – ensuring they have access to vaccines and boosters and rapid antigen tests, as well as feeling a degree of connectedness – should be near the top of any government’s list.

And yet, it’s not – evidenced by the death toll that we now have to swallow each morning, with a cup of tea.

There should not be an elderly Australian who hasn’t had the opportunity, at least, to be vaccinated. But each day the toll carries the weight of those who have not had a single dose often, or the booster.

Our aged care staff and residents should have, by now, received their booster shots, and rapid antigen tests should be plentiful.

And yet they’re not either.

When voters go to the polls – and Scott Morrison is likely to push that date out as far as he is allowed – they will consider how the prime minister has led the nation through one of its most difficult times in history.

How inclusive has he been to young voters, and their younger siblings by considering their views on issues like climate change and discrimination?

How has he ensured that this pandemic doesn’t leave a psychological scar for years on our teens?

How has he been inclusive of women, as evidenced by the articulate presentations of Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins?

And how are his government’s policies protecting our elderly?

This week he’s been busy alienating all those groups, which means he must be banking on the support of the nation’s middle-aged men to push him over the line for another term.

The problem there is that many of those men are husbands and partners and fathers and sons barracking for their daughters and wives and girlfriends and parents.

And on any reasonable assessment, that might make it hard for him, post-May, to keep his job.