Tories playing the man not the ball is likely to backfire

In a blog on the Conservative Home website today Tory cheerleader Mark Wallace writes about "the horrors that a Miliband government would bring. ". And what "horrors" are they? Could they be any worse than those brought to us by this incompetent, uncaring, foolish Tory-led administration? I very much doubt it. The reason Cameron has failed so abysmally is not because he has been held back by the LibDems. They have largely been compliant. No. The reason is that they have a warped ideology and frankly don't know what they are doing. The venal combination of trying to do the wrong things and doing them badly. The badger cull is emblemic of this. Wrong thing to do, based on selectively chosen science while ignoring real experts and utterly bungled in execution. 

Ed Miliband has gently taken command of a once divided Labour Party and united it. The Blairite/Brownite divisions are a thing of the past. He has also significantly modernised the Party and removed the last remaining blocks on its credibility as a potential Government. Meanwhile the Conservatives still tear themselves apart over Europe (especially) the economy etcetera. Etcetera. Divided parties don't win elections.

Ed is a social democrat, or a democratic socialist if you like. But he is no ideologue and the "Red Ed" charge is as preposterous as it always was. Ed articulates well the benefits of a mixed economy and he has a good team behind him. He is also, self-evidently, a decent man. His slight geekishness and occasional social discomfort is unlikely to be a block to his election once the public get to know him. The more they get to know Ed the more attractive the prospect of him in Downing Street will seem. The Conservatives think that they can win by playing the man not the ball. It could backfire on them.