Mid-election blues

Leaders have failed to set campaign alight

		By Nick Assinder BBC News Online political correspondent

With the election campaign at its half-way stage questions are being asked about what it has all been for.

After two weeks of intense activity by all the parties, an overwhelming impression is growing that it has changed nothing.

There are clear signs that voters have not been engaged by the politicians or are even listening to them and - Prescott punch-ups aside - it is the most lacklustre election for decades.

If the polls are to be believed, Tony Blair is still firmly on course for a second victory, with some even suggesting another historic landslide.

And, despite fighting what has widely been regarded as a good campaign, the Tories and William Hague are still battling to make a significant impact.

Kennedy had a good two weeks

Only Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy has seen any notable change in his standing - and, while he has clearly been fighting an effective campaign, that may have been expected as a result of the extra media exposure he is guaranteed during an election.

The position of his Liberal Democrat party, however, has not matched his rise in popularity.

Defied the polls

All the politicians will immediately insist that the polls should be treated with a fist full of salt.

As Tony Blair said: "Polls are polls, they come and they go. We take nothing for granted."

And he may well be right. It is not unknown for voters dramatically to mislead pollsters, either by accident or by design.

William Hague likes to remind people that he has defied them before during local and European elections and will do so again.

Hague has moved onto Europe

But he must be dismayed by the lack of movement in the campaign. So it is not surprising he has tried to turn the focus onto Europe and the single currency.

He always wanted to make it the key battleground and has now moved onto that territory, clearly hoping it will start to shift things his way.

Meanwhile, Tony Blair insists he is fighting as if the outcome is on a knife edge and is determined to swing the agenda back onto his territory of the NHS and education.

Come alive

But the issue that is now starting to rumble underneath the campaign is the prospect of another huge Labour majority on 7 June.

Blair looking at victory

The problems for William Hague are obvious. If he fails to avert another large Labour majority then his leadership will be firmly on the line.

But many fear such a result would also be bad for parliamentary democracy, by allowing the Commons to be marginalized even further than it already has been.

And even some Labour candidates will privately admit that another landslide would be bad for the new government which would have no effective opposition other than from its own backbenches.

And large majorities tend to breed arrogance and insensitivity to the public mood.

This could all be typical, mid-election blues and the last week or so might suddenly come alive.

There is always the prospect of an unforeseen event leaping out of the undergrowth to shift the course of events.

But, failing that, it is possible on 8 June the question will again be - "what was it all for?"