The Yellow Peril

Has there ever been such a rush of the blood to an electorate's head? It may be that, having seen Clegg, the electorate rushed to read the LibDem manifesto, digested it, and changed their minds. However, YouGov's polling asked about a list of policies (without attributing them to the LibDems) and most of them fared badly.

This is a fad, I feel sure. But as fads go, it need only last a couple more weeks. There are two more debates, and election coverage has been limited by the volcano. If Clegg does well again - and who would have thought that a LibDem could come out on top in a debate involving crime and immigration?? - then he may well improve his position, let alone hold it.

But why has it happened? A plague on both your houses, for sure. But why did this also drag down Cameron? Take that well-rehearsed line about 'the more you argue, the more you sound the same", why did that hit home so well? Obviously, the public is tired of both Labour and Conservatives - but, there is more. The lesson is that Cameron's media and re-branding strategy has had very shallow roots. This is well deserved - it is, after all, a very shallow campaign.

However, will Cameron reflect that all of that work on image, all the Ashcroft advice and analysis, appears to have come to naught? Along comes a more normal looking rich-boy from a public school, and the public is heavily tempted. Cameron brands himself as the bringer of change - but it was so easy for Clegg to steal this mantle. To paraphrase the Norwegian commentator: "Steve Hilton, Lord Ashcroft, Oliver Letwin: your boy took one hell of a beating."

But even now, he sounds like an appalling young executive announcing the new company motto, vision, business plan, etc. A modern scourge of our society is the New Speak of our public authorities and businessmen - full of jargon and buzzwords to keep managers at a fair distance from reality, and to insult everyone else's intellgence. And Cameron does it as badly as anyone.

And this is why Cameron lost. He did not engage with the question. He did not talk ordinary English. Sentences were just platfroms for his jargon: "jobs tax", "Big Society". He is still 'at it'. He still has not learned.

He has unveiled some good policies, but he should have been laying the ground work for these for years. You cannot introduce the phrase "Big Society" one week, and then treat it as your central value the next. For heaven's sake, if it was that important to you then where was it a month ago.

So, Cameron is still trying to fight back using the same tools that got him into trouble.

Time for operation core vote again - it is a delicous irony that Cameron decided to say nothing on immigration, Europe and crime: those are the subjects where the LibDems are most vulnerable. But, again, he could have done with laying the ground work for Tory credibility and LibDem incredibility on these subjects.