Three-point-plan to end Cleggs' rise

So looks like I could be eating my words from my last two blogs...in fact if Clegg does win I will, I will print off those blogs and eat the whole thing. I just can’t believe how it has happened. It is generally accepted that campaigning doesn’t change votes, sadly bad campaigning does. Lib Dem has risen in popularity so rapidly since the first leaders debate that there are actually people saying they might win (most aren’t). How has this happened?

I am not actually anti-Lib Dem, I just thought they were a nothing party with no chance; now they have a huge chance, but only if Labour and Conservatives keep handing it to them. I personally think an Obama-esque story of them coming from so far behind to steal the show would be great for British politics. There is a huge difference though; Obama did it on the back of a campaign trail that whisked not just the nation but the world alongside him. Nick Clegg has so far done it on the back of an ok TV debate, which he didn’t exactly steal the show in, but he did win. Before and since then he hasn’t exactly been the most exciting politician in the world. The fact he has had this huge rise, is not due to his campaigning, but due to the poor campaigning of the other two parties...over the next three blogs I will layout a three point plan to reverse this, they go in ascending order of importance.

1) Learn from mistakes and improve – a.k.a beat Clegg at his own game

Clegg’s popularity grew after winning the first leaders debate; stop his momentum by winning the next two. You might say this is easier said than done, not like they weren’t trying to win last time, but Clegg’s performance wasn’t stand out...he won, just. Ok, so Brown is never going to be the most exciting man in the world on camera. Even though Brown is still quite young for a Prime Minster (Harold Macmillan was 63 when he took office), up against Clegg and Cameron he might as well actually be dead, and he certainly looks it.

However, Cameron is a PR man; he should have some media charisma about him – time to show it off! If he learns from his mistakes he can easily make up for his less than average performance last time, which resulted in Clegg’s average performance seeming like a great performance, The public having seemingly responded well to, what I saw as, a very superficial attempt to be the electorates best friend. The highlight of this was Clegg quite clearly reading the names of all the people who had asked questions. It is important that Cameron takes this on board, but does not go over the top. Cameron seemingly had the same idea with his constant anecdotes of ‘people he had met’, which has become the biggest point of mockery of the whole debate. He will need to cut his anecdotes down, but not get rid completely – otherwise it will be too obvious – and not too blatantly incorporate Cleggs’ ‘best friend’ charm. I suggest taking on Clegg’s way of speaking directly to the person who asked the question, use their name and look at them when speaking; talk into the camera, not the audience, during the introductory and summary speeches; there are more people and more votes watching on the television.

Brown is not completely without hope. Although yes he does look like a zombie who has been clearly weathered by his brief time as PM, he is the only experienced candidate. He is also the person most likely to suffer from Cleggs’ rise – a second left-wing party being popular can’t be good for Labour. Although, let’s not dismiss that Clegg is stealing disenchanted Labour votes from the Tories. Brown needs to put up good performances in the next leaders debates. He is never going to be electrifying, but he can play the game. The debates will have to be less important for Brown, in fact their existence has almost destined him to lose the debate – there is no way he will win them, but can he come second? Perhaps, and he could do it at the expense of Clegg. It is time Brown made this a debate. His problem last time was immediately responding to Cameron, “David Cameron just said this, it is wrong because of that...” He would immediately get cut off so we could see Cameron’s response and could not get his point across. This time he should say “Labour’s idea is this, Cameron just said this, and this is wrong because of that...” Convincing people Labour policies are correct is the easiest thing in the world, everyone likes fairness, show them how you are (if you are) the party for fairness. The most important thing Brown must remember is not to rise to the Clegg challenge. Don’t go on the attack to show Labour is the only legitimate ‘left’ party. Ignore Clegg, freeze him out – show it that way. Only argue with Cameron, every point should be about how Labour are not Conservatives – how they are stopping this country being Conservative. Focus on the unpopular right wing policies of the Tories, which Cameron has amazingly allowed us to forget. What happened to Europe? What happened to immigration? What happened to heritage? What happened to benefits? I know these are hard to argue for during the recession, but if Labour values are argued well they are hard to debate against. Especially for someone like David Cameron who is such a self-loathing Tory, afraid to stand up for the traditions of his party. House of Lords reform, a slightly different cancer policy to the Tories and anti-expenses; are these really the policies we want to choose our Government on? Cameron will have to respond, he may do this badly or well, but it essentially shows Clegg is just the other person with not much to say on any policies that matter.

Essentially the leaders’ debates have changed the way our politics works, sadly how campaigning works as well (explored further in my next blog). With the next one coming up, both Cameron and Brown need to up their game; show that Clegg is no Obama and show the nation what their true values are and what our choices are – a socialist Labour Party or a one-nation Conservative party.