We’ll have to wait to see the more detailed polling reaction to the second British debate, but it is already clear that Clegg remains in the game. That’s bad news, and it makes this shrewd piece by Dan Hannan all the more timely. Hannan’s key point is this:
Nick Clegg is recognised by Eurocrats as One Of Us. A graduate of the College of Europe in Bruges, he went on to work in the European Commission before being elected to the European Parliament. In each of those three institutions, he was taught the them-and-us elitism that is the hallmark of the Eurocrat: the belief that voters are simple, often bigoted, souls, who require guidance from experts.
Cleggie proved that he was still One Of Us when, in his first major decision as Lib Dem leader, he went back on his party’s promise of a referendum on the European Constitution. Even when the expenses revelations hit, the Lib Dems were careful not to call for a dissolution until Lisbon was safely ratified. Observe, once again, the EU’s hideous strength: the way in which it makes its supporters eschew democracy in their own countries in order to keep the project on track…
There is something eerie about the Lib Dem leader presenting himself as anti-Establishment when he is a product and champion of the smuggest, tightest and most powerful Establishment on the planet: the Eurocracy.
There is indeed.