We're not as bad as we paint ourselves

I just had a hollow laugh at a Reuters general election report. The latest opinion poll puts the Lib Dems in the lead. In itself, that's no laughing matter, but the statements below are. What a miserable impression our political leaders give of the state of British politics:

"What [the] last 24 hours has shown is there are a growing number of people who just desperately want something different, they want more of a choice than the old politics of the past," Clegg told Sky News.

...Cameron, addressing party activists in Gloucester in southwest England, said a weak government would be bad for Britain...

"A hung parliament would be a bunch of politicians haggling, not deciding. They would be fighting for their own interests, not fighting for your interests," he said.

"They would not be making long term decisions for the country's future. They would be making short term decisions for their own future."

...Cabinet minister Alan Johnson told the Times newspaper that politicians should stop scaremongering about a hung parliament.

"It wouldn't be as good as a Labour government but anything is better than the Tories," he said.

Are we feeling reassured?