I don’t pay enough attention to the Liberal Democrats to be certain about this but today may have been Nick Clegg’s best day as leader. The announcement that there will be not one but, god help us, three debates between Gordon Brown and David Cameron and that Clegg has been invited to participate as an equal partner in each of them is a triumph for the Lid Dem leader. He is the obvious benficiary of this precedent-setting agreement, not least because, in addition to granting him equal billing, he’ll be able, if he has any wit about him at all, to play Cameron off against Brown and vice versa, presenting himself as the least unacceptable choice available.
Tim Montgomerie doesn’t like this, not just for reasons of party advantage. Clearly only a weak Prime Minister would agree to such a contest and, in that sense, it’s an admission that Brown appreciates the depth of the hole he’s in.
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