'Falling for the Myth of Cleggmania' _ a Reply

http://www.bastiatinstitute.org/falling-for-the-myth-of-cleggmania-2/comment-page-1#comment-126

After reading the article I left this comment, no doubt swallowed up by the net - I've kept it here for my 'posterior' where I keep my vanity!

It is the peculiarities of our system that created the election result seen. I cannot agree with some of your analysis in this article: we have had extreme tribalism in politics (of the kind you may be aware of in your own system!) that meant those people who were intending to vote LibDem or 'thinking about it', when 'push came to shove' in the ballot box voted to keep out the terror they feared whether that be Conservative or Labour for them. A piric victory for Fear over Hope. Sadly LibDem being seen as neither the cause of terror or at that time a solution to the terror were somewhat overlooked again!.

Our whole media is wired into it, the political party machines do it and the public responds - it is incredibly juvenile and creates these 'great swings' between red and blue, with some people quite able to vote first blue and then red at the next election - when any 'sane' person thinking about their decision would be able to discern the incongruity of this voting pattern. They would be able to see that one party or another consistently supported the issues, values of concern to themself, rather than swinging between parties that are diametrically opposed on critical issues. However had the 'usual politics' not taken place then, it was quite possible that the reigning govt would have been pushed into third place % of voters: whilst LibDem in 2nd place with a larger % of votes still getting less overall seats, thats our crazy FPTP system - it is at fault for leaving LibDems languishing at a low seat base whilst consistently polling 22-25% of votes, but recieving less than a tenth of the seats overall. Clearly some sort of electoral reform is coming to Britain, just how radical and how far reaching remains to be seen.

Politicians should be aware that in the past the public when asked were & are often far more radical than their political masters give them credit for - and the machinations of political party machines can 'be bitten in the bum' by our changing public taste.

Under any other proportional system for their % share of vote LibDems would have been given anything from an extra 20 or so seats to an extra 90 seats depending upon how radical the electoral change. However that is not the whole story of the election result, we did get something rather strange for us, which shows the surge for Nick Clegg and LibDems did 'go all the way to the ballot box' - we got a hung govt. So to call them losers in third place when infact they increased the voters % and numbers by 1 million is to mislead your readers. LibDems were expected to lose many more seats before the election got going and so to increase their votes share and retain seats they were expected to lose in the heady environment 'of only worth voting red or blue' that we found ourselves in during the latter days of election - you could say they actually succeeded!
The coalition formed is an interesting one and I will be watching them closely. It is however still an extra-ordinary situation that Britain finds itself in (hung parliament) with a potential stable govt formed in coalition, something seen in Europe long time, but very curious for us. Now it seems the very talented and intelligent people who have been consistently attracted to serve as Libdems for the last 22 years, much of that past talent untapped and left by the wayside of 'brutal poltics FPTP system', means that this generation of Libdem MP's and ministers get a once in a lifetime chance to show 'how' they can be in govt.
I think this situation will in the long term change the opportunites for Libdems either to make a great advance or more pessimistically by some accounts, be perhaps destroyed by the association with the Conservative Party. We wait to see what will win out in the long run. Fear or Hope, very timely, 'very interesting times' that we still live in.