For what it is worth, the man masquerading as our prime minister is doing relatively well in the polls – according to The Guardian. It has 48 percent of those who responded "thinking" (if that is the right word) that he is doing a good job, against 43 percent who say he is doing a bad one – a net score of plus five.
This compares with a similar poll in June, when he dipped into negative territory for the first time, the score almost reversed with 42 percent saying he was doing a good job, as against 47 percent saying bad, a net score of minus five.
In the March, incidentally, The Boy had scored plus five, but the previous June (2010), just after the general election, the score had been +23.
The Daily Wail, never one for subtlety, clearly attributes this reversal of fortunes as part of the "veto bounce", although it tells us this is fading when it comes to the parties.
Recently the Tories were celebrating a six point lead (40 to 34 percent), compared with 38 percent to Labour and 36 percent to the Tories in November. Now we are looking at 36 percent to Labour as against 37 percent to the Tories.
There are good reasons, however, for not taking this current poll seriously. Always error-prone, Christmas polls are often thought to be particularly unreliable, with so many people on the move, and most focused on other things.
Despite that, it is vaguely entertaining to see Clegg's net score at -19 percent and Miliband at –17, with the preposterous Osborne, at minus two. For each of those, one can only register mild surprise that the scores are as high as they are.
All this aside, if what the Guardian terms the "Brussels bounce" is actually fading, it will not be too long before that reflects in The Boy's personal score. There is no substance to his "fantasy veto", and his europhiliac tendencies have not changed one jot, so it can only be a matter of time before disillusionment sets in.
Cameron's greatest asset, it would seem, is not "Europe", but the utter uselessness of MiniBoy Ed. It takes remarkable political skill, verging on the genius, to make Cameron look good, but this Miliband has achieved – albeit only by contrast. But in a land of political pygmies, a dwarf can walk tall.
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