Thanks to the birth of our first child, I am missing the Conservative party conference for the first time for many years. It does, however, give me the luxury of watching proceedings from a distance, and seeing how they are distorted by the media prism. At times it's hard to know who's been more hysterical - our new baby or the media and fringe elements of the Tory right.While my sources and my telly viewing tell me this is an exciting and harmonious conference, the press would have us believe the Conservatives are being torn apart by an arcane debate about tax cuts. Those who are choosing to push their own agenda are not doing themselves, or their party, any favours.
David Cameron has already achieved a huge amount in 10 months. For the first time in a generation, the Conservatives are enjoying a sustained lead over Labour. For the first time in my political lifetime, our approach to the NHS and education is more popular than Labour's. We have provided effective opposition in parliament to everything from home information packs to identity cards.
Labour don't know how to handle Cameron. They appear, for now, to have settled on the charge that he is more style than substance - and this from a party that ditched every principle to win power, a party that, according to the former Labour minister Nick Raynsford, has failed precisely because of its "fixation on tomorrow's headlines".
It is a lazy charge to make. As Cameron made clear in Sunday's speech, he has a clear strategy. He is building the foundations, and only after that will he set out his policies. It is absurd to ask him, three years from an election, to do more. Margaret Thatcher, the patron saint of tax-cutters, said nothing in her first manifesto beyond an aspiration to reduce taxes - which she did only after laying the foundations for economic stability.
Nobody knows what Gordon Brown's manifesto will be at the next election. We know even less about his principles and his approach, save that he is determined not to be seen as Scottish. All we have seen is typical New Labour spin. We suddenly see the famously private chancellor emoting, because his spin doctors have told him people want to see his human side. Suddenly the control freak is talking of devolving power to the NHS, because his spin doctors have told him localism is in fashion.
Cameron's approach is much more fundamental. He is engaged in nothing less than redefining the role of politics. He is the first mainstream politician to understand that the politics of exhortation and example can be more effective than those of targets and prescription. He has recognised the frustration so many people feel about having their lives micro-managed. He realises communities are yearning to shape their destinies.
But even as Cameron sets out his philosophy of social responsibility, he has been no slouch in addressing policy issues. Single-handedly, after a decade of Labour inaction, he has pushed the environment to the top of the political agenda. Labour, which pointed out 10 years ago that tackling the causes of crime was as important as tackling crime, dismissed Cameron's speech on the need to understand the boredom and frustration of young people. While Cameron sets up the Young Adult Trust, all Labour can do is sneer from the sidelines.
Cameron is this week setting out his philosophy of politics. It is not manufactured, nor is it dumbed down. (When did you last hear a politician use the word "hubristic" in a conference speech?) It is focused and resolute. He will not be distracted by those who would much rather the Conservative party remained a fringe debating society than a credible alternative to this government.
Ed Vaizey, the Conservative MP for Wantage and was a member of David Cameron's campaign team.