it's my party (and i'll cry if i want to)

i have been getting all political of late. in my slightly liberal job, where i get to watch BBC News 24 as much as i want (normally i watch children's TV but this politics thingy seems to be holding my attention for now), i have made time to watch as many Party Manifesto press conferences as possible.

my take is this:

Labour Party: pretty dull and uninspiring. made me phase out of my own head.
the cartoons are a partly weird, and mostly patronising. it's pretty hard to get excited about Gordon Brown, as he sucks the atmosphere from a room like a dyson on 3-phase.
also, in my local elections, the labour candidate has been found using House of Commons headed paper to send out political 'propaganda' .. he'll probably go to hell for such a travesty against nature and an unforgivable use of stationary. it wouldn't surprise me if someone died because of this hateful crime. god, he's like a terrorist.

Liberal Democrats: unremarkable and empty, seemed realistically accepting of the fact that they'll never win.
but i did like that Vince Cable chap, he's the first politician i've ever heard that actually sounds like a human being. and he reminds me a bit of ken campbell.

Scottish National Party: talked sense for people in scotland, but left me cold. i am not scottish, that's probably why.

UKIP: appears to be a joke party. like a parody of the BNP, but without the dedication.
their poster campaign seems to have been created by spotty teenagers, dirtily giggling to themselves from behind the bike-sheds.

Plaid Cwmru: sort of inconsequential. but good for them.

The Conservative Party: a lot of amazing sounding promises, that are quickly replaced by the overwhelming feeling of being lied to by a guy who would use the death of his own son as a political crow-bar.
alluded to the fact that they were presenting from a building Doctor Who was filmed in, but as a negative. perhaps because david tennant is a labour supporter.
they spend a lot of time moaning that Labour are running a tory-attacking campaign, but i've yet to see any of it. i have seen a huge amount of petty bemoaning from the tory camp to the labour camp though, which isn't "real adult politics," more, "jealous children in the playground."

heh heh.. "labour camp"

so, not a great outlook so far. i didn't expect anyone to channel Barack Obama, but it doesn't bode well that we have a complete lack of inspirational leaders. i suppose i'll just stick to my choice of unashamedly voting tactically. my borough is one of the 'swing states' and it's an incredibly fine line between a labour and tory win.

i'll boil it down to this:
would i vote for a human rights lawyer who - by all accounts - has noticeably improved the town i live in and rebels against his party when he feels strongly about something,
or a management consultant (urgh) for a huge multinational pharmaceutical company based in america, who strikes me as a smug posh-boy?

oh dear. where's tony benn when you need him?