There will be lots going on this week. The election is another weekend closer, and the excitement is definitely building now.
Perth & North Perthshire Liberal Democrats have been confident all the way though, raising a good budget to work with, getting our messages out and about throughout the constituency and picking up new helpers and party members as a result of the campaigning that we have been doing.
Now, of course, there is the Nick Clegg debate factor. We knew he would hold his own in the debates, get in between the other two party leaders and stir things up a bit. Did we expect him to comfortably win the debate and generate the new national dynamic that he apparently has done?
Well, we probably hoped that he would, but like everyone else, we anticipated the event and the outcome nervously. The outcome quickly became apparent however, much better than we dared hope for. While part of this may be down to the novelty factor, the British public as a whole is not easily duped, and therefore it must be that they approve of the key domestic messages, and they see substance as well as style. Although some of the projections might be exaggerated, this is not a flash in the pan. There will be an enduring bounce because of this, of that there is little doubt.
The dynamic in the Press this weekend is curious. We have the positive Liberal Democrat stories as you would expect. Others are clearly sharpening the knives for Nick, but are not sure how to go about using them. Both the Conservatives and Labour will want to put him down, but might need him in coalition government at the same time. Such is the confusion created by a third horse getting right up in to the race. Quite rightly, Nick Clegg maintains that the Liberal Democrats will continue to campaign on their own manifesto and let the public decide. He will continue to campaign as if the Liberal Democrats can win. We might not, but the suggestion that he could be Prime Minister is suddenly not quite so ludicrous. The debate this coming Thursday on Sky Television will focus on foreign affairs. Curiously, both the Labour Party and the Conservatives think they will have an advantage in this one.......conveniently forgetting that it was the Lib Dems who caught the public mood over Iraq, and in Party stalwarts such as Menzies Campbell they have very well respected voices on the international stage. Nick Clegg will be well prepared again. Almost certainly, the Tories and Labour would not be able to co-ordinate an effective ambush on Nick Clegg anyway, both having to try and salvage their own floundering campaigns first. If there was pressure last week on David Cameron and Gordon Brown, the stakes are much higher this week.
On Tuesday, there will be an election debate involving the Scottish parties, and that should be worth watching as well. Alex Salmond, despite all his bluster about the debates, is delegating Angus Robertson to take part. As we have long known, when it comes down to it, he is a "big feartie" really. He may come across well when he has the chance to speak uninterrupted and with a benign journalist asking the questions, but he would have been destroyed in these leadership debates, and he knows that really. The SNP are not relevant in this election.
Anyway, we will be out and about this week doing our bit and not thinking too much about other parties, concentrating our canvassing in Perth and in the Carse, continuing our leafletting across the constituency and doing all our necessary preps for 6th May. Needless to say, candidate Peter Barrett has another full diary, and we will all have a spring in our steps this week.
There is nothing like the power of a positive and winning message for generating momentum.
Perth & North Perthshire Liberal Democrats have been confident all the way though, raising a good budget to work with, getting our messages out and about throughout the constituency and picking up new helpers and party members as a result of the campaigning that we have been doing.
Now, of course, there is the Nick Clegg debate factor. We knew he would hold his own in the debates, get in between the other two party leaders and stir things up a bit. Did we expect him to comfortably win the debate and generate the new national dynamic that he apparently has done?
Well, we probably hoped that he would, but like everyone else, we anticipated the event and the outcome nervously. The outcome quickly became apparent however, much better than we dared hope for. While part of this may be down to the novelty factor, the British public as a whole is not easily duped, and therefore it must be that they approve of the key domestic messages, and they see substance as well as style. Although some of the projections might be exaggerated, this is not a flash in the pan. There will be an enduring bounce because of this, of that there is little doubt.
The dynamic in the Press this weekend is curious. We have the positive Liberal Democrat stories as you would expect. Others are clearly sharpening the knives for Nick, but are not sure how to go about using them. Both the Conservatives and Labour will want to put him down, but might need him in coalition government at the same time. Such is the confusion created by a third horse getting right up in to the race. Quite rightly, Nick Clegg maintains that the Liberal Democrats will continue to campaign on their own manifesto and let the public decide. He will continue to campaign as if the Liberal Democrats can win. We might not, but the suggestion that he could be Prime Minister is suddenly not quite so ludicrous. The debate this coming Thursday on Sky Television will focus on foreign affairs. Curiously, both the Labour Party and the Conservatives think they will have an advantage in this one.......conveniently forgetting that it was the Lib Dems who caught the public mood over Iraq, and in Party stalwarts such as Menzies Campbell they have very well respected voices on the international stage. Nick Clegg will be well prepared again. Almost certainly, the Tories and Labour would not be able to co-ordinate an effective ambush on Nick Clegg anyway, both having to try and salvage their own floundering campaigns first. If there was pressure last week on David Cameron and Gordon Brown, the stakes are much higher this week.
On Tuesday, there will be an election debate involving the Scottish parties, and that should be worth watching as well. Alex Salmond, despite all his bluster about the debates, is delegating Angus Robertson to take part. As we have long known, when it comes down to it, he is a "big feartie" really. He may come across well when he has the chance to speak uninterrupted and with a benign journalist asking the questions, but he would have been destroyed in these leadership debates, and he knows that really. The SNP are not relevant in this election.
Anyway, we will be out and about this week doing our bit and not thinking too much about other parties, concentrating our canvassing in Perth and in the Carse, continuing our leafletting across the constituency and doing all our necessary preps for 6th May. Needless to say, candidate Peter Barrett has another full diary, and we will all have a spring in our steps this week.
There is nothing like the power of a positive and winning message for generating momentum.
Can we do a Nick Clegg in Perth and North Perthshire? ........YES WE CAN....!!
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