Lib Dem Act

LEARNING IN THE DEBATE NIGHT GROUP

In response to a question about why this Debate Nights site continues to attract new meembers even though the General Election and its current debates are over, I penned the response below:

"Surely people are still joining, Jane, to have their say about how the so-called Debates (ie, party politicals from behind a podium) can be improved for future elections, and to keep the sparks Nick created in the forefront of public consciousness.

One of the truly irritating things about the Party's organisation since I first joined the Liberals during the Lib-Lab Pact of the 1970s is how often perfectly effective and workable initiatives (such as giving members their say on the central role of TV in campaigns) are ditched when the creator of the idea moves on to their next wizard scheme, or today's fad drowns out all else.

My wife and I knew Tim Farron had held on to his seat with a massively increased majority not when Nick "won" the first "Debate", nor on the morning after the Poll, but months ago when TV news reports here in the NW featured him night-after-night helping residents with the Cumbrian floods.

That goodwill did not wash away. So let's work out together what it was that created Cleggmania in the first place, and how other Lib Dem campaigners can win some of that stardust for their own attempts to get elected - long-term benefit as well as instantaneous pizzazz, please."

There has always been the REINVENT THE WHEEL EVERY ELECTION individualists in the Party, and of course, developments in technology assisting, it  is necessary to tweak training to suit fresh circumstances.  

But Debate Nights need not be just a Flock Together  for TV-watching in the course of General Election Campaigns - we should not wait until April 2015 to think "We need to get started..."

If you agree with my thesis, here will be a fine place to accumulate judgements and know-how.

Over to you.  The real wealth of the Party is in its people, something Lord Ashcroft did not take into account at all.

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