Nick Clegg may have been the inevitable target of this morning’s dominant, right-wing media, led by Rupert Murdoch’s Sun and the slightly less desperate, Conservative-supporting Daily Telegraph.
But there is no doubt all three leaders are feeling the pressure today. David Cameron, whose campaign bubble burst after last week’s ITV debate, has admitted on the campaign trail that:
I am bit nervous. Switch on the television and people say, ‘This is make or break time.’ You think, ‘I had better not screw it up, then.’
Gordon Brown, too, knows that there can be no room for complacency. He performed relatively well last week — and was particularly strong on the economy — but Labour is still languishing in the polls.
The real implications of Cleggmania for the other two parties remain slightly unclear. The Tories need crucial seats from the Lib Dems if they are to win; but Labour needs to avoid losing its vote to the Lib Dems in marginals against the Tories.
Though it has been fashionable since last week to say that Clegg has set himself up for a fall; that he is likely to flop compared to last week; that expectations are too high, there is no reason to think he will not again emerge the winner from tonight’s Sky News debate, the first half of which will cover foreign affairs.
It is surely unlikely that Clegg will not exploit the fact that, thanks to Charles Kennedy, the Lib Dems were unique among the three main parties in opposing the unpopular invasion of Iraq. He is likely to accuse the other two parties of conspiring to press on with the war, for which — it should not be forgotten — Cameron voted.
Cameron, wisely, is not preparing to attack Clegg, understanding perhaps more than the papers that support him that there is no mileage in going after a popular figure. Instead, he is likely to repeat his attacks on Brown regarding equipment and resources in Afghanistan: a line encouraged by the Sun. He will have to hope it works better than it did last week.
Brown’s unenviable challenge is to rise above both his rivals as the world statesman with rugged experience of office in these difficult times.
Whatever happens, the real beauty of these debates is that, as we learned last week, the reaction to them is — for once — led by the viewing public and not the media, whatever the latter’s agendas. Compared to his role in recent years, Rupert Murdoch has never seemed less powerful.
UPDATE: Both Paddy Ashdown and Peter Mandelson have hit out at the right-wing press assult on Clegg today, the latter saying the Tories are in a “panic” and alleging that they have “subcontracted” their campaign to Andy Coulson.
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