Beefed up local organisation and a public spending push could help the ruling party avoid a coalition next year, Unheralded, the campaign for next year s national elections started this month. The ruling African National Congress will be fighting on multiple fronts: to cut state spending and rein in domestic borrowing and the highest budget deficit since 2004 as it reassures its supporters it will step up help for those hit hardest by the deepening recession. And it has to counter those opposition parties determined to push the ANC share of the national vote below 50%, to open up an era of coalition politics.