Who told Clegg this was a good idea?

The start of the LibDem conference has been marked by a "savage attack" by Nick Clegg on David Cameron - though the interview I saw on ITN was rather more stuttering than savage. Clegg, who was elected in part because of his media savvy skills, seems to be getting worse as time goes on. Either that or in comparison to Cameron he just seems to be getting worse.

This betrays the worry of the LibDem Leader about who the real challenge is at the election. I am told that the loss of their South West powerbases at the recent county elections has made a lot of LibDems across the country very jittery about the Tory threat in their seats. What would happen if they went backwards at this election? For a start, Clegg's leadership would be over and (assuming he clings on in his own marginal seat) Chris Huhne would be ready to strike.

However, let's say the election result shows a collapse against the Tories but losses are offset against a dozen or so gains from Labour; even if the numbers are down, Clegg could claim a victory of sorts and if Cameron landslides then he could claim nothing could have stopped the Tories and the defeats are to be expected.

So therefore, what on earth is Clegg doing having a political pop at Cameron when the wide-open goal of Labour sits before him and with it, the only chance of him clinging onto his job.