Friday, February 16, 2007

LibDems get nasty in Scottish poll campaign

If the reports from the BBC are correct then I think LibDem Leader Sir Ming Campbell will have made a mistake in targeting fellow party leaders in his party's bid not to come 4th in the Scottish elections on 3rd May.

Campbell's attack on Blair and Iraq is rather predictable and suggests that by dragging up this issue again his party has nothing new to say. Isn't this the same record they've been playing since 2003? Anyway, I suspect that not many people will notice this!

The main thrust of the attack was on SNP boss Alex Salmond. Now, no matter what you think of Salmond or his politics, you have to accept that he is widely admired in Scotland in the same bizarre way that Livingstone is in London. A bit of a loon but with his heart in the right place.

The LibDems have built their limited success on the basis of being the "nice party" - of avoiding such attacks and being relentlessly positive ... I know, I know, but this is their public perception not the reality that political campaigners know!

By letting Campbell savage Salmond in this way, I wonder if this take the shine off the LibDem gloss.

UPDATE: I notice also on the site a poll which shows more LibDem voters want Salmond as First Minister than their own well known leader, Mr Thingey.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aren't we getting a tad precious, and hot under the collar about the Lib Dme's, Anthony? Ming's sally was scarcely a "savage" attack on Alex Salmond - surely nothing in comparison to some of the personal attacks from He Who Walks On Teflon- I mean our David.

Let's make some effort to keep In Touch with reality.

Antony said...

Sorry Sterm Mason but you have missed the point. Tories and Labour slug it out because that is whay they do. The LibDems have carved out a niche in politics as the anti-politics party. They are nice, positive blah blah blah. This attack - which is pretty nasty - will shake the public's view of the LibDems. Ming can't carry off savage attacks, so he shouldn't bother!