Gordon Brown was far better, Nick Clegg remained strong and David Cameron more than held his own: the second leaders' debate was a quick game of three way tennis that will have left all three sides satisfied. In an extraordinary election, the event will not resolve the outcome, but it showed that this week's Liberal Democrat surge was not an accident and is likely to be sustained, perhaps all the way until 6 May. Against two rivals, one holding power and the other still expecting to take it, Mr Clegg continues to compete as an able, frank and brave politician.
If last week's contest was a dash to extremes, then this was a rush to the centre. Arguably, all three leaders agreed on the fundamentals of every question. If voters want to see real difference between the three main parties they will have to look elsewhere. There were differences of style and approach, but on everything from climate change to Afghanistan, the similarities stood out. Gordon likes solar power, Nick is keen on insulation and David thinks the third runway at Heathrow is a bad idea. The narcissism of small difference won the night and perhaps progressives should be thankful for that.
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