The Liberal Democrats are doing well. Very well. More voters seem actively to want a
hung parliament – they neither hate Labour or love the Tories enough to act decisevely either way – and a vote for Nick Clegg seems a safe, fair choice.
A few years ago Paddy Ashdown was over the moon to have won far fewer MPs than the party is hoping for at this election. Then came the “Iraq Bounce” with Charles Kennedy’s anti-war stance doing the party well. Many assumed that without a clear-cut issue, and having chosen a leader who looked like David Cameron’s younger brother, the Lib Dems might struggle. Instead, the party seems to be fighting off Tory inroads.
Nick Clegg will also join David Cameron and Gordon Brown in the TV debates – a coup Paddy Ashdown would have sold a relative to get in his day.
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