Still, Phil BC must be the only poor soul who actually ventured out to see it.

I know a few Laboourites who might choke on their cornflakes at this from a Lib Dem’r!

I’m sure you do—there is after all none so blind as them that will not see. All parties are going to have problems with activists that get carried away and take things too far, the important thing is how it’s dealt with, and that’s especially true if there are allegations of illegality.

Personally I don’t want to be associated with someone who’ll break the law in the name of getting elected, so if such allegations are made with evidence I’d insist they were investigated (and if it was someone from my party that I knew I’d hope them to be found false). But in both this case and similar cases (the Miranda Grell case springs to mind) I’ve seen partisan activists attacking anyone casting any doubt on their candidate and assuring us of their complete innocence. I think that sort of behaviour damages politics generally and also makes me doubt the person defending their party member.

But on the other hand, I’ve also seen a number of partizan activists attack Lib Dems specifically for their ‘dirty tricks’, both before and after I joined the party, and frequently when pressed the ‘dirty tricks’ are things like having a marked register, knocking up, having an effective leaflet campaign and actually talking to local voters. Not always, of course, but it really does devalue your complaint if you perpetually rail against established methods of democratic participation—point to genuine issues and I’ll listen. And I know that Cowley Street takes complaints seriously when they come in.

Yes, because the messenger matters SO much more than the message.

* rolleyes *

Silly people who disagree with things because of who is saying it, rather than the content of what is said.