So, we have a coalition government in Britain and the press and the broadcast media are wriggling with pundits, all telling us just what happened and why. Of course, it’s easy enough to be wise after the event. But these are the same pundits who, after the first TV debate, were so wild-eyed and feverish with Cleggmania. The Lib Dems, they told us , were on the verge of displacing Labour as the main opposition. They might even out-poll the Tories. In this, of course, they were aided and abetted by a gaggle of pollsters who understand everything about statistics, and nothing about people.
They should have read the Chelgate Blog. This is what we wrote on April 19th, when Cleggmania was raging unchecked across the land:
So, now some opinion polls actually have the Lib Dems in the lead! So what does this mean for British politics? Have the Libs “gone viral”? Should we be preparing ourselves for the reign of King Clegg?
Um. No.
Of course we are in the world of “Anything’s possible” now. And only an idiot will speak in absolutes. But the fact is, this is not a presidential election. Immediately after the debate, people felt inclined to give their vote to that nice Nick Clegg. And yes, they have a soft spot for Vince Cable, who could make a perfect Joe Biden to Clegg’s Obama. But that’s not the way our political system works. When it comes to the actual election day and they realise that Nick Clegg is not standing in their constituency, and their man (or woman) is still there in a distant third place, then reluctantly, bitterly, as they have before, they’ll shift their vote to whichever they dislike least of Labour and Tory , to keep the other one out.