HOW TO WIN VOTES?

I know, I know. I said I wouldn`t get involved in all this election stuff but every day something happens that encourages me to get something off my chest. Today it`s the reaction of the Brown/Cameron camps to the `performance` of LibDem leader Nick Clegg in the first Leaders` Debate, which has seen the LibDem vote rocket by some 8% overnight.

The Labour and Tory response seem to be, firstly, denial that Clegg took them to the cleaners and won the `debate` hands down; secondly to claim that Clegg might be all style and no substance and therefore, thirdly, when the second of the three televised debates takes place next Thursday, they will `release the forces of hell` on Clegg and subject him to sustained attack personally and on his policies.

Now, I don`t know too much about politics and I confess to being one of many who have been disenchanted - to put it mildly - with the whole business of politics and politicians. But I do know one thing. To invoke the yah-boo schoolyard gang warfare against someone perceived to be a threat will be seen as a sure sign of desperation and will simply have the effect of turning people away from all of that and perhaps, just perhaps, encouraging them to listen more carefully to what might be a more measured, adult, reasoned and acceptable alternative?