We are not quite at the end of the Presidential campaign between Tim Farron MP and Susan Kramer, therefore, I would like to pick up a couple of points from the Liberator Q&A session.

In answer to the question as to whether David Penhaligon’s immortal phrase

Stick it on a piece of paper and shove it through a letterbox

has had its day, I wholeheartedly agree with Tim Farron’s answer:

Definitely not. I use Facebook, Twitter and email newsletters to great effect in Westmorland and am doing so in this presidential campaign. Electronic campaigning is just another way of getting your message across. E-campaigning is very effective – but it is the icing on the cake. There is no substitute for community politics – Focus leaflets, residents’ surveys and knocking on doors. The chances are that this will remain the main way to get our message out. The key to campaigning successfully is: being passionate about what you believe in, inspiring others to follow you and communicating your message via a mixture of obsessive ‘carpet bombing’ and plenty of targeted stuff.

So… if you’ve got something to say, stick it on absolutely everything – which will usually (though not exclusively) mean using a piece of paper with ‘Focus’ on the masthead! David Penhaligon’s words stand true 30 years on; they will stand true in another 30 years.

However, the answer from Susan Kramer raises more questions than the answers that it gives…

We must move into the 21st century when it comes to campaigning.

We are already in the 21st century. We are already doing it (the campaigning – indeed if the presidential campaign itself is not ‘campaigning’ I don’t know what is. Catch up at the back please.

There is no substitute for the physical presence on the doorstep and we need to revive such campaigning.

It has never died, unless activists’ shoe leather is lying to them!

Leaflets have a crucial place but so do direct mail and many forms of e-campaigning from social networks to Twitter and email.

First of all this is an awful sentence. I’m not quite going to call it ‘drivel‘… but, let’s examine this.

• Direct mail surely is part of the ‘leaflet’ campaign.
• Twitter is a ‘social network’.

Perhaps she meant… “from social networks including Twitter to email”?

We throw much too much of a burden onto local parties to develop new campaigning techniques.

Really? Don’t think so. All local parties can have a totally managed web presence with very little burdensome work. But those that can, or who are able, will develop new campaigning techniques to meet their needs.

We need to face up to the fundraising necessary to develop techniques centrally

We are not a centrist party. Remember, it is local, community, politics that gets us and keeps us elected. Did you forget this in Richmond Park?

which can then be provided in an easy to use form to local parties.

See above. We have ‘easy to use form’s, indeed many local parties, um, including one in South London… let’s say Richmond upon Thames, use one of these ‘easy to use form’s.

We could also learn far more than we do by listening in detail to local parties to work out what works and what needs changing. We have little idea how to campaign in PR and AV elections and we should be learning from parties overseas.

Really? The Liberal Democrats have ‘little idea how to campaign in PR and AV elections’? Anyone told Colin Rosenstiel? My former Scottish colleague Stephen Glenn has been helping in elections using PR voting and STV in Scotland for some years. Of course, those of us who work in Northern Ireland are used to STV for everything… um, apart from Westminster… but hopefully that one will be sorted come May. (Did I say something about a certain referendum? Please remember to join the Yes to Fairer Votes campaign, everyone.) And this is before we consider how our party uses STV for internal elections (remember to vote anyone who is a Federal Conference rep!)

We should not be ashamed of raising the money to get top-flight advice. Our campaigns staff, like our other staff, need recognition and career opportunities to make sure we are constantly strengthening our skill base and keep expertise.

Finally, something I agree with Susan on.