Super Campaign Show Darling

TUESDAY, APRIL 06, 2010

Super Campaign Show Darling

A new record low coming up?

Is it me, or does this election already feel like a sham?

We've certainly got wall-to-wall TV coverage, but most of it is as witteringly pointless as the BBC's Campaign Show - yet more showbiz for ugly people. Indeed, on Day One of the campaign, listeners to R5 Live are already complaining that the whole thing is terminally boring and they won't be able to stand an entire month of it. Even I'm bored, and I'm actually interested in this stuff.

And yet the 2010 election ought to be gripping, because as we all know, we're facing a crisis of historic proportions. 

Or do we? Do we all know that?

Because as we've noted before, as long as you haven't lost your job, and you're not dependent on savings income, your day to day life probably doesn't seem too bad. Yes, Brown is awful, but you don't have to listen to him. And Cam... well, muchnicer obviously, but is he actually up to the job?

And does it matter anyway? Most people seem to think what will be will be, and if the nation runs out of money, that's going to happen whoever's in power.

Clearly, I think it matters. I think we need to get rid of this lot so we can start shrinking the state back down to size. But in truth, even I'm not that confident there'll be that much shrinking under Cam.

What's missing here is any real sense of crisis. Back in the '79 election we'd had 5 years of crisis, and the bulk of the electorate knew the underlying issues had to be gripped. But right now, for most voters, the debt crisis just hasn't bitten.

And with Cam having sensibly decided to abandon his new age of austerity, the crisis has become little more than another load of old stuff. Stuff to be wittered about on campaign shows, but disconnected from most of the world beyond Westminster.

It will change of course. One day before too much longer, the debt market will go bang. And then interest rates will soar and everyone will discover it was a real crisis after all. 

By then, the election will be behind us. We'll have a new government. Or maybe the same government. Or maybe a shaky coalition. But whoever it is, they'll be forced to make spending cuts and increase taxes on a scale never even mentionedduring this campaign. And we'll all be wondering why we ever elected such a bunch of imbeciles in the first place.

And my solution to this mess?

Sadly, I don't have one.