Andrew Grice, writing the Independent this morning, gives us details of what the party’s research says the public thinks of our leader.

And do you know, it appears they like him! Well, I never.

The article is full of the stuff Lib Dems have always known and that seldom seems to feature on the pages of apparently grown-up newspapers.

[W]e shouldn’t dismiss or ignore the Liberal Democrats. They won 5.9 million votes at the previous election, 22 per cent of those cast. We often hear about Labour stealing Tory policies but the Liberal Democrats often make the running, without getting the credit. Mr Clegg raised fuel poverty at his debut at Prime Minister’s Questions, long before it became fashionable. Many of his party’s ideas on the housing market and Northern Rock were eventually taken up by the Government.

Oh, my god! They noticed! It wasn’t all in vain!

While many voters have given up on Labour, support for the Tories is wide but shallow. Typical comments were: “I can’t stand the present lot but I haven’t the faintest idea what David Cameron stands for”; “David Cameron is just telling us what we want to hear” and “I don’t like the idea of giving him the keys to No 10 without knowing what he will do.”

Yes, Andrew, Yes! Again, again! Oh, god, yes, that’s the spot.

The sad truth is that too few journalists seem to get this, and if it appears briefly in some of the few reflective broadsheets, sandwiched between “Loony Libs want to stand at football matches” and “Referendums, are they mad?” we should praise it while it appears. Because we know all to well that the herd will forget it again as soon as the next bright’n’shiny party conference begins and their attention flutters away onto some less worthy ideal.