Why vote Lib Dem?

Yes, Nick Clegg did an absolutely super job on that quiz show, eleX-factor, and now the hand-wringing bien pensants over at Grauniad have declared their undying love for him, but what real reasons are there to vote Yellow?

Their policies have mostly crumbled when exposed to daylight, the few that they still stand by are insane - join Greece in the Euro, anyone? - and they want Britain's finances to be controlled by a confused old man who used to work in a bank.

And of course, there's still the worry, at the back of everyone's minds, that if the boy Clegg gets himself into any position to influence events, he'll be tricked into opening a portal to another dimension - the Labour Party - and all sorts of hideous creature - Brown, Balls, Mandelson - will creep back into power.

So why would anyone vote Lib Dem?

Jeff over at SNP Tactical Voting thinks he knows why: because they're bored. As he says

"The list of “writers, thinkers, artists and academics” who signed a letter backing the Liberal Democrats last week, ensuring that Clegg-mania lives on, proclaim how exciting the election is, even how “revolutionary” Clegg may be, but reading between the lines they seem to be patting themselves on the back for ripping up the script, for turning the old two-party system into a three-way, ‘up for grabs’ titillating showdown. It is the adult equivalent of a grinning child knocking over a tin of orange paint just to see what happens. The Guardian, I hear today, has followed suit.

"Of course Labour has let down the lefties in this country but the under-scrutinised and over-exposed Lib Dems shouldn't automatically reap the reward, even if spiky Nick has positioned himself well for it. These days, attention spans have been crammed so stupefyingly short that if you can’t say it in 140 characters then people won’t be interested. Instant gratification and continuous contentment are the orders of the day.

"So who wouldn’t vote Lib Dem with such an attitude? Like a diluted version of the Monster Raving Loony Party you can vote for cut price nuclear weapons that don’t exist and a £17bn tax break that will be partly funded by clamping down on that old chestnut tax evasion. You can vote for the ‘green’ Liberal Democrats despite that party knocking back windfarms up and down the country and there being an actual, you know, “Green Party” on the ballot slip.

"We don’t yet know if all this mansion tax and immigration amnesty stuff is pie in the sky but hey, who cares, it’s fun, so why not join the latest craze. In the summer we can all have a pillow fight outside St Paul’s Cathedral and do a group Macarena at Kings Cross just like in those T-Mobile adverts. What a lark that’ll be, we’ll bring Vince along if he wears his funny hat. Anything that keeps us entertained will fit the bill."

Yup, that pretty much sums up the sad state of politics in this country today, doesn't it?

As Jeff concludes:

"Vote Brown, get Brown. Vote Cameron, get Cameron. .. Vote Lib Dem, get a nice fuzzy feeling for a while."

Is that what you want?

.