Okay, briefly…
– Malc’s Live blog on the excellent Better Nation blog…
– Shuggy on the idiocy of loosing bravely in a respectable (Athenian manner) on #AV11..
Will the Maximum Eck has been victorious – or stunningly trounched? Will the dead weight of the Gray albatross bury Labour in the sand, or astound Scotland by taking flight – and carry the hapless mariner to an unexpected triumph? If he does fail, who might replace him? Will new Green shoots spring up, or will the blackened earth prove infertile, and the suffering stalk snap right through?
– Caron’s tips for two new Lib Dems she would like to see elected…
– Joan’s 35.000 ft literal view of Scotland…
– And here’s a crucial point not currently being made on the BBC:
The collapse of the unionist parties is a more significant shift than many realise. Repeated studies show that once voter loyalty is broken the pattern of behaviour is rarely resorted to automatically. People voting for the SNP or the Greens for the first time will have dislodged loyalty to Liberals or Labour. It may have been the Stephen Purcell debacle, the competence of the Green opposition or the incompetence of the Labour one, but something substantial has moved in the Scottish political landscape.
– Finally Gerry Hassan puts Scotland on a familiar psychiatrist’s couch:
“Sometimes politicians and politics get it wrong or fall short, but sometimes so do elements of the media and I think the latter has occurred in this campaign. I believe it is time to stop saying how disillusioned and disappointed we are in Scotland and Scottish politics, a school of thought which has a passive view and an active angry one, and dare to dream and hope a bit. Our country and we deserve it.”
– BBC Scotland live coverage… And the STV live feed…
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty