Tuesday 2 June 2009

Vote LibDem, says Guardian

The Guardian leader writers advocate a vote for the LibDems in Thursday's European elections, following the Observer on Sunday.

I think these are the first national newspaper endorsements for the LibDems in a national election.

The Guardian's charge against Labour is that its argument for Europe and on political reform is far too muted. A much greater shot of the vision thing - and radical reform on the Constitution in particular - will be needed if Labour wants the major liberal-left newspapers to advocate its cause when it comes to a General Election.

Newspaper endorsements probably do not directly shift thousands of votes, but they matter in other ways. As I posted yesterday, the LibDems may be doing rather better in this crisis with informed opinion than with the electorate at large.

Which reminds me of the old Adlai Stevenson joke.


During his 1956 presidential campaign, a woman called out to Mr. Stevenson "Senator, you have the vote of every thinking person!" Stevenson called back "That's not enough, madam, we need a majority!"



PS: (The LibDems also have another influential convert for Thursday's Euro poll in Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee, though it is a reconversion in the sense that she was among the founder members of the SDP back in 1981).

1 comment:

Lazy Student said...

Every little helps, however. The Lib Dems have always been regarded as a silly little party. I went to a discussion with Jack Straw and Eddie Izzard (don't ask...) the other day where Straw described the Lib Dems as 'not a serious party'. Getting the guardian on side will help rid themselves on this image and make themselves a viable opposition.