THE GUARDIAN: Nick Clegg has one great advantage over his Tory rival: no one raises the question of his sincerity
Spend a few weeks following the leaders of the three main parties and you soon realise that – regardless of the results of tomorrow's vote — a hierarchy has emerged in this campaign. When Gordon Brown turns up somewhere, he's lucky if there's more than a smattering of party faithful ready to greet him, perhaps two dozen souls holding the odd placard. That could be a function of his security arrangements, with details of his travel not released in advance, or it could be a commentary on his public standing. But the harsh truth is that a visit from Brown generates little hoopla.
Next up the pecking order comes David Cameron. There's always a healthy number of people at his events, usually arranged photogenically – white men in suits nudged out of shot; those who are young, female, black or Asian ushered to the front – and reliably ready with a cheer. But the suspicion lingers that the crowd has not exactly gathered spontaneously, that it has been convened through diligent advance work.
And then there's Nick Clegg. When he pops up, there can be up to 400 people waiting for him – even on a rainy morning in Lewisham, south London. Sure, that's a tribute to the Liberal Democrats' famous knack for pavement politics and, admittedly, the local party had a week to organise its people. But that doesn't explain the large number standing in the cold who are neither party members nor even past Lib Dem voters. Nor does it explain the crowd of onlookers across the street, waiting for the speaker to arrive, nor the people in the flats overlooking the common who open their windows to see the show. >>> Jonathan Freedland | Wednesday, May 04, 2010
