Monday, August 04, 2008

James Graham on Nick Clegg's leadership

Writing on Comment is Free, James Graham says:
I've been struck by how many people I have spoken to over the past few weeks – candidates, councillors and activists alike – who appear to be either demoralised or disenchanted with Clegg's leadership.
I wish I felt more motivated to disagree with him.

You will find James more often at Quaequam Blog!

4 comments:

Liberal Polemic said...

I agree, but I suspect that the cause isn't Nick. He's just the lightning conductor.

The cause of the demoralisation is the sudden and (let's admit it) impressive turn-around of the fortunes of the Conservatives.

Just 18 months ago they were still going nowhere, and we might expect to gain from Labour's inevitable decline. Now it's the Tories that are reaping the rewards and we are struggling to be heard.

That being said (and you will be able to correct me if I am mistaken) to be consistently tracking c.18% in the polls at this point of the electoral cycle is quite good for the Lib Dems, so what's the problem?

Liberal Polemic said...

I've gone into more details on my site.

Anonymous said...

bah, school has broken up for the rainy season so we are just supping brandy (or chianti, or decaff fair-trade coffee, whatever you prefer) under shelter while we bitch about our blisters.

Forget about it and get on with something more productive instead. I've only got a couple of chapters of my book to write, so I'd better stop prevaricating or I'll never finish it.

Anonymous said...

The problem with the Lib Dems is you can't be sure of what they actually stand for. They tell one group of voters on thing, and another group of voter a completely contradictory thing. Most recent example is Lib Dem MP Tom Brake usng a 10 Minute Rule Bill in parliament to demand that cannabis seeds are made illegal. He's got a facebook group about it too.

The Lib Dems can't have it both ways, their current policy is to decriminalise possession, small scale cultivation for personal use, and social supply in the short term and go for full legalisation in the long term (subject to the renegotiation of international agreements)... Then they decide to have crusade against seeds demanding in parliament that they are banned. They can't send mixed messages like this, telling the young liberal student types how they're for decriminalisation whilst telling others how they are demanding this appalling loophole in the law that makes seeds legal must be closed - that just means none of us can believe any of it.

I voted Lib Dem last time. I'd never vote Tory, SNP or Labour so at the next election I just won't vote at all - or I might just spoil my ballot.