Across the pond

Despite all the rules, and the massive figure of Sky’s Adam Boulton pushing the leaders on to the next question just as the big punches were being thrown, the election remains the most thrilling race in town. The Guardian decided it was a narrow win for Clegg. Most of the Tory press talked up one poll which showed Cameron back in the lead.

My own verdict was that it was a clear draw. Brown looked more confident, Cameron less of a wimp, but Clegg was taking their punches, standing tall with one hand in his pocket most of the time. The poll experts say the average of the polls shows the Lib Dems and the Conservatives level at 33 per cent with Labour on 29 per cent.

How reliable all these snap polls are is an open question. But no evidence has emerged to fault my own gut feeling. What was unthinkable a week ago is still a reality.

This is a three horse race.

Clegg, who was branded a Nazi sympathiser by the Daily Mail at breakfast time and that he was anti-American by Brown during the debate, stuck to his guns on nuclear defence strategy. His call for a rethink over Polaris looks rational rather than foolish. Why does Britain need its own mini nuclear force, when France and Germany manage without? How does our clinging to being a nuclear power help in persuading countries like Iran that they should not go nuclear to defend their people?

Brown’s anti-American jibe might have carried some weight had George W Bush still been in the White House. But on both nuclear strategy and tackling  the big banks, Lib Dem policies are closer to those of Barack Obama than either of the other two parties.

The odds against the Lib Dems topping the popular poll are still very long. In the last two weeks they can expect further attacks from the press. Which should not be discounted. Mud sticks.

But it is worth remembering that this particular LibDem revival has had no help from the press at all. Labour has been able to rely on the support of the Daily Mirror  and, when he felt like, has been given the support of the Murdoch papers. The old Liberal Party post-war had the support of The News Chronicle, until it was taken over by the Daily Mail in the 1950s. It had the support of The Guardian when it was the Manchester Guardian. In the 1980s The Guardian staff was split right down the middle, between support for Labour and snupport for the alliance of the Liberals and the Social Democrats.

In recent years The Guardian has been clearly, but not un-critically Labour. In the last few  days it has been showing signs of returning to its Liberal roots.

 C. P. Scott must be dancing in his grave.