The Tory campaign: A view from Down Under

There is an interesting report in The Australian. It supports my recent argument that the Tories' much vaunted "dog whistle" strategy is no more than a rerun of William Hague's 2001 core votes campaign.

Better than that, it suggests that the strategy is gaining us more votes than the Tories:

One senior Tory said: "This is a core vote campaign, along the lines of 2001. It is much more professionally organised, thanks to Lynton Crosby (the Australian strategist running the campaign).

But in Australia, Mr Crosby does not have to worry about the threat from a third party.

"What seems to be happening here is that when we make a hit on Labour, the Liberal Democrats get two-thirds of the benefit."