Beginning of the end for Clegg

[Guest sibon]

The true point is that, if that is the case, they have only themselves to blame ... I can't feel sorry for them. They took a calculated risk and it didn't come off. Tough! *shrug*

 

As for courting the floating voter, that's politics for you! Be sure of what you really want before putting your cross in the box.

 

I think people generally are happier with Cameron and Clegg than they would have been if they'd been landed with Brown for another Parliament.

 

I totally agree with that.

 

I'd have been happier still seeing Clegg show some backbone of his own and sticking to his principles though.

 

I was surprised that the Tories didn't do better, given the very weak opposition that they faced.

[Guest]

It is getting quite silly now with the disgruntled so-called LibDem voters, (whom we're all quite aware are really disgruntled labour voters, who for some bizarre reason known only to themselves, betrayed their party and voted for another) still thrashing about and whining because they LOST! It's the same with the media, they keep on about how everyone is feeling betrayed by the LibDems, when in fact, reasonable people aren't.

 

It's the same with these proposed welfare reforms, they keep trying to tell us that people are against them. But that's not quite true, most people welcome them. The people against them are the hardcore non employed and lazy and the people who make their living by keeping people non employed and lazy, as far as I can see.

 

You seem to have a remarkable ability to read everyone's mind and explain how & why they voted.

Amazing too, that the media (according to you) seem to be in tune with those people rather than you - in view of this, have you considered the fact that you "reasonable people" may actually be in the minority?

 

Many people (I won't claim "most" as you do because I don't read minds) who are neither unemployed or lazy, are against the reforms simply because some of them are extremely unfair and will cause great hardship.

 

Everyone knew that cuts were necessary but were assured that the poor wouldn't be hardest hit.

I don't pretend to be privy to other peoples political reasoning or actions but my personal belief is that when the next voting day comes along, it will be THE END for Clegg, and for his party who blindly followed him.

[Berberis]

I think that is the point though Ruby. The number of people who wanted the Lib Dems in power was actually considerably lower than their vote. They picked up quite a lot of tactical votes.

 

The link that I posted above shows that Nick Clegg actively courted the Labour tactical vote in Hallam.

 

I would say that was false, considering in 2005 the Lib Dems received 22% of the vote at a time when the election was clearly a two horse race. The 2010 election saw a 1% increase in Lib Dem votes, hardly a considerable change.

[Berberis]

Many people (I won't claim "most" as you do because I don't read minds) who are neither unemployed or lazy, are against the reforms simply because some of them are extremely unfair and will cause great hardship.

 

Everyone knew that cuts were necessary but were assured that the poor wouldn't be hardest hit.

I don't pretend to be privy to other peoples political reasoning or actions but my personal belief is that when the next voting day comes along, it will be THE END for Clegg, and for his party who blindly followed him.

 

Last time I checked the opinion polls put the majority behind the reforms not against them.

[Guest sibon]

I would say that was false, considering in 2005 the Lib Dems received 22% of the vote at a time when the election was clearly a two horse race. The 2010 election saw a 1% increase in Lib Dem votes, hardly a considerable change.

 

The nature of tactical voting means that it happens on a constituency basis though. That makes the outcome of the whole election less relevant.

 

Which Sheffield constituency is likely to have the most tactical voters? Hallam, or Brightside?

[Guest sibon]

Last time I checked the opinion polls put the majority behind the reforms not against them.

 

Breaking News: UK Opinion Polls Back Up Organgrinder (and Serapis)

 

Not that opinion polls mean very much.

[rubydazzler]

I totally agree with that.

I'd have been happier still seeing Clegg show some backbone of his own and sticking to his principles though.

I was surprised that the Tories didn't do better, given the very weak opposition that they faced.

I'm not sure that we're seeing the actualite of what's happening behind the closed doors of the Cabinet? The political media, especially the Beeb, are so biased against anyone who isn't labour that I certainly don't trust them to give an unbiased account. Who knows what influence the junior partners really have over the seniors? Things might have been a lot worse if not for the coalition and Clegg and Co sticking to their guns? I don't know, but neither does anyone else of us.

 

The Tories will probably never do very well in the vast heartlands of The North due to people still being obsessed with Thatcher stealing both their milk and their coalmines.

[mossdog]

You seem to have a remarkable ability to read everyone's mind and explain how & why they voted.

Amazing too, that the media (according to you) seem to be in tune with those people rather than you - in view of this, have you considered the fact that you "reasonable people" may actually be in the minority?

 

Many people (I won't claim "most" as you do because I don't read minds) who are neither unemployed or lazy, are against the reforms simply because some of them are extremely unfair and will cause great hardship.

 

Everyone knew that cuts were necessary but were assured that the poor wouldn't be hardest hit.

I don't pretend to be privy to other peoples political reasoning or actions but my personal belief is that when the next voting day comes along, it will be THE END for Clegg, and for his party who blindly followed him.

And you would have us carry on over the cliff edge with the old labour party still in charge?........all that's happened with Clegg is that he's been shocked into reality by the £4.8 TRILLION debt that we now know is reality in the last few months.I'm sure he would like to be Mr Popular along with the rest of the Coalition,but events are changing very rapidly and people can march all they want,but till they open their eyes to the real problems Britain faces it will be to no avail!

[rubydazzler]

You seem to have a remarkable ability to read everyone's mind and explain how & why they voted..

I don't have superpowers or a crystal ball. I just listen to what the ordinary person in the shop has to say. People who are very political never seem to listen to other people, just one another. They then form the opinion that everyone agrees with them.

 

As for reading the way people voted, you have to admit that there is a suprising number of 'Liberal Democrat' voters on this forum that previously have made no secret of the fact that they were labour supporters?

 

One can extrapolate that to the rest of the country a la the opinion polls.

[Guest sibon]

I don't have superpowers or a crystal ball. I just listen to what the ordinary person in the shop has to say. People who are very political never seem to listen to other people, just one another. They then form the opinion that everyone agrees with them.

 

As for reading the way people voted, you have to admit that there is a suprising number of 'Liberal Democrat' voters on this forum that previously have made no secret of the fact that they were labour supporters?

 

One can extrapolate that to the rest of the country a la the opinion polls.

 

At which point I'd like to make it very clear that I'm a Labour voter and a former party member (The membership card went back at the start of the Second Iraq war). I might put that in my sig... I got mistaken for a wishy washy Lib Dem last wek:D

 

That doesn't prevent me from being very interested in the most curious Government that I can recall. They seem to be implementing policies that they don't quite believe in, for reasons that they are unsure about.

 

It makes for interesting politics, but nobody should be surprised when feelings run high as they break promise after promise in the interest of expediency.