Charles Kennedy Resignation - Liberal Democrats not nice

Well it seems as if after a much hyped advance at the Westminster elections, the Liberal Democrats have decided to shoot themselves well and truly in the foot. The Lib Dems seem to pride themselves on their ability to align themselves with the thinking of the "man on the street" but there appears to have been a severe misjudgement on their part this time.

Charles Kennedy made a brave and statesmanlike admission that he had been fighting an alcohol addiction. This problem is one shared by many of his constituents and the repercussions of alcohol problems reverberate through Scottish and British society. Many people will have felt nothing but sympathy for him for the way that the media had turned on him in the wake of his admission. It had long been assumed by many people that the post of Leader of the Liberal Democrats was the safest position in UK politics today.

Being attacked in the media is one thing. Being attacked by those in your own party and whom you had a close working relationship is quite another. The person whose story was going to be broadcast and which forced the live on air confession was none other than his own former press secretary. If the Lib Dems had been smart they would have embraced the confession as proof that politicians are only human and that they have the same problems to contend with as everyone else. Instead they chose to publicly assassinate Charles Kennedy in the most brutal fashion. Some of the quotes coming from Liberal Democrat MPs were unbelievable. They certainly seem to have shed the "nice" image they have been carefully cultivating over the years. The MPs attacked their party leader with the sort of venom normally reserved for their worst enemies.

In ridding themselves of Charles Kennedy's leadership, have the Lib Dems managed to go from boom to bust in one swift stroke? Only time will tell but with a rejuvinated conservative party being buoyed by the right wing press, surely the writing is on the wall.