Clegg’s ratings droop

The common man’s touch? For more Lolcleggz, click here (courtesy of Popbitch.com)

Don’t mention immigration. I said it once but I think I got away with it

So is that it then? We’ve had the three live debates and the consensus amongst pollsters, journalists, and commentators on this sort of thing, is that Cameron improved each time and was the outright winner last night, although there was no ‘knock-out blow’. With the Lib Dems poll rating beginning to fade away, we’re told this means the Tories are on course for a narrow victory. Except there’s still the best part of a week to go before polling day. And, as everybody knows, a week is a long time in politics. Which roughly translates to “actually, it’s still up for grabs”.

In particular, there are still a lot of unanswered questions on the economy. The question is, now that there are no more debates, will anyone ask these questions? Yesterday’s debate was ostensibly on the economy, but we learned nothing new, and then the debate got somewhat hijacked by the issue of immigration.

It does however seem Labour is set for a significant battering unless there is some kind of dramatic turnaround. In what was surely a bad omen, the unveiling of the Labour Party’s new election poster was overshadowed by a car crashing into a bus stop. Gordon Brown is tonight going to face Paxman – is there another, albeit metaphorical, car crash in the making?


QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Asked later by one broadcaster if the crash was a metaphor for Labour's election campaign, Lord Mandelson said: ‘No.’”

– Even the BBC, constrained as it is by impartiality rules during the election, couldn’t resist that one.


THE GREASY POLL
Lab 29, Con 36, LibDem 26 (ComRes)