The single most dramatic event of the whole election was the first televised debate between Brown, Cameron and Clegg. It fundamentally changed the dynamics of the whole campaign. From that moment, Cameron was no longer assured of a shoe-in, Brown was condemned to a humiliating third place and Clegg moved from serf to kingmaker. Both the Tories and Labour have now lost poll ratings since the campaign began.
It is tempting to say then that this is a TV election. Even the second debate had a healthy audience and the third is eagerly awaited. But equally, although 9 million watched the first one, millions more did not.
So how did they pick up on Clegg’s performance?
It would appear that while the TV debates have driven the agenda, the blogs, Facebook and news sites have seen intense activity. Some of it puerile and abusive (this is the internet, after all) but equally much of it well informed. For instance, Politicalbetting.com has become the first port of call for journalists wanting to understand what the the polls might mean.
Labour’s toe-curling Elvis moment rapidly gained notoriety virally. Rebuttals, spin and policy clarifications are being fed into the social networks faster than the press can react.
Which finally leads to the rather sad and impotent impact print media is having this time out. From the photoshopped posters (Mydavidcameron.com) to the infantile attempt by the right wing press to vilify Clegg, the traditional media have been sidelined. I’ve not seen a Liberal poster, have you? There is no national newspaper backing them either. And yet today they stand at 30% of the poll with the Tories at just 34% with the Telegraph, Times, Sun, Express, NOTW, Mail etc all rooting for their man and having had thousands of Ashcroft’s pounds to spend in the marginals.
So my “influence poll” reads TV 40% Internet 35% Press 10% Posters 5% Others 10%. What do you think
