It is an oddness of our politics that, when elections loom, we seem to focus even less on the issues and more on the trivial things.
It is customary for politicians to blame the media for this, and they certainly play their part.
As parties attempt to ‘manage’ the news and set out their stalls in the sensitive weeks ahead, press officers will do battle daily with their journalist counterparts, trying to keep them ‘on message’, and away from entertaining or embarrassing diversions.
The parties hope to present an image of clarity and impeccable organisation. The press prefer something more spontaneous – and usually manage to find it. And who can blame them?
It comes as no surprise, then, that last weekend’s headlines were dominated not by rival proposals for banking reform, but by reheated claims that Gordon Brown is prone to bad temper, and may at times have taken it out on his staff.
Bill Clinton has, by his inventive use of language, made it difficult for a politician to deny anything successfully. So, I am afraid, the Prime Minister’s crystal clear assurance that he has never hit anyone may well be said to raise more questions than it answers. Likewise, the Head of the Civil Service’s statement that he has never had to speak to Mr Brown about bullying or intimidatory behaviour.
Even with two denials to its name, the story might have ended there - and merely boosted the sales of the carefully timed book where the allegations appear.
It was the extraordinary intervention of the Chief Executive of the self-styled ‘National Bullying Helpine’ which lit the blue touch paper.
The appearance of something new propelled the story from the Sunday papers to dominate a whole week’s news, and perhaps more. Opposition parties called for an inquiry, while Labour got down to searching for a Conservative conspiracy.
At the time of writing, it is not clear where it will end, but I fear it will not end well for a small charity tangling recklessly with party politics during its rutting season – whatever its reasons for doing so.
Does it matter? On one hand, perhaps it should – people want to know what kind of person is running the country and how they will react under pressure. Workplace bullying is an issue which deserves to be taken seriously.
But the developing stramash of allegation and counter-allegation will shed very little light on either.
I doubt this will be the defining issue of the election campaign as far as the media are concerned. Something else, more unexpected and nearer the big day is likely to fill that niche.
Whether it is this kind of episode, or the slogans, manifestos and policies which will ultimately clinch the election, I do not claim to know. That is one of the unfathomable mysteries of the polling booth.
What will sell tomorrow’s national newspapers is probably a more exactly understood science.
It would be a dereliction of my duty as a Liberal Democrat if I did not mention in passing Gordon Brown’s eleventh hour conversion to the cause of electoral reform.
So it was a couple of weeks ago that the House of Commons voted for a referendum on plans to introduce the Alternative Vote – a system which would ask voters to number candidates in order of preference, and oblige MPs to gain the support (eventually) of at least 50% of those taking part.
I am far from convinced by the Prime Minister’s change of heart, or by the system which he now prefers.
It is a striking fact that half of all parliamentary constituencies have elected the same party in every election since 1970, even while huge landslides have swept governments of both main parties into and out of office. Almost a third of all seats have seen the same result at every election since the Second World War.
Ross & Cromarty (in its various incarnations) does not fall in either category, whether by luck or the judgement of local voters. Even so, the expenses scandal and the behaviour of parliament beforehand showed how much damage the culture of ‘safe seats’ and ‘jobs for life’ can do.
I believe voting reform could help to revive Westminster – not only by making every vote count and dispensing with the ‘safe seat’ for good, but also by creating space for new ideas, compromise and co-operation in politics.
But after 13 years as a roadblock to reform, Gordon Brown’s sudden interest in taking a half-step in the right direction looks cynical. It is likely to be too little, too late.