GAFFE! Aaaaaaaaaaah...

"Warning! Gaffe Gordon approaching!"

"What do you mean... Gaffe Gordon approaching?"


Oh yes, this threatens to be one of the defining moments of the campaign. As they didn't quite say in Jurassic Park, "Turn the mic off, turn the mic off...". Mind you, Jurassic Park would not have worked in Rochdale. "After careful consideration, I've decided not to endorse this mill!"

Alas, you get the feeling that Labour might be at the mercy of the public after this, regardless of how Thursday's debate goes, and what had been quite a good counter-argument by Stalin/Bean against pensioner Gillian Duffy's views on immigration fell to pieces the moment his car started driving away. As is now usually the case these days, when Brown finds himself being opposed by people who have strong links to Labour, he gets angry. Shortly after, he was still angry: with himself.



Unfortunately, the thing I can't get out of my head with that radio interview is the word FACEPALM. Curse you internet memes! And soon, other known figures in red were doing it too...

This is a tricky issue. As you might imagine, the right-wing press is loving it. Brown shows himself as being somewhat hypocritical: perhaps not a surprise after hanging out for so long with the somewhat unscrupulous Blair, who was always one step ahead of that clunking fist. But it is hard not to feel slightly sorry for him: especially as he had to come crawling back to Duffy and apologise. "You've got me begging you for mercy", perhaps?

Calling her bigoted was both unwise and irrational: the comments of a man who was far from calm. But it is the raging against a former Labour voter, in the usually safe area of Greater Manchester, that will rock the boat most. If Labour finish second in the popular vote, it might be enough to keep Brown in: but if they finish third, it will be a disaster of 1983 proportions. And with the Lib Dems yet to actually make any gaffes, that looks somewhat likely.

In other news

Away from politics (although I was in Westminster this evening), the book on the Tory transitions years is going well. Fascinating stuff by Tim Bale, no relation to that actor what plays Batman and swears at electricians. Judging from what I've read, any Conservative voter wondering why it's taken them so long to challenge Labour for power would do well to read about the William Hague years: he was prone to gaffes too, as I seem to remember.

What's really fascinating is to see how both Cameron and Osborne flitter about behind the scenes: Osborne actually has a bigger role than I realised, especially as part of the Hague entourage, before he became an MP. Fittingly though, he's not as confident about policy in public as he is in private. For me, he's a bit too like Cameron to really stand out.

But enough of my obvious Osborne scepticism: it's a week before polling day. Millions of people have already voted: will it turn out to be a vote for Cleggmania? Could Brown cling on; can Cameron capitalise; or will the latter find himself in a Clegg coalition? Providing Cameron is flexible - and so far, he's been much more adaptable to change than his party - he might just come out the victor even if he fails to get more than half the seats on offer.

One thing's for sure: with the BBC still talking about a hung parliament just days before we go to the polling stations, it won't be like 1997, 2001 or 2005. The idea of Labour gaining a majority this time around will be one that's hard to imagine.

Unless of course, the Prime Minister wins the last debate.

Can he pull it off? Or will next week see the end of Gaffe Gordon (A Rochdale Production)?

We shall see.

Chris