The betting was always on Farage to walk off with the big-buckled belt and, sure enough, he battered the other fellow almost senseless. YouGov declared him champ by 68 to 27 per cent, ICM by 69 to 31 per cent. That’s as big a margin as you realistically get in politics. True, Clegg was unpopular before the debate began – and, indeed, he spent an hour reminding us of why he is so unpopular, with his faux-populist one liners, his smirk, his failure to hide his impatience with the rest of the country for not being as broadminded as he is. Still, numbers on such a scale change things.
Clegg, remember, was defending the position taken by every party represented in the House of Commons and by every newspaper except the Daily Express. Yet he lost by more than two to one. More than two to one, for Heaven’s sake.
Euro-enthusiasts will no doubt be trying to console themselves with the thought that it was a clash between two politicians, not the In/Out referendum itself. But why should that campaign play out significantly differently?
So why is this important to the US? Because if the mother country can keep it’s independence and even sever ties with the socialist octopus that is the EU then we will have an ally. If not, we will be alone.
On the North River 