A few months ago, Guardian Unlimited's political team began planning our election coverage. We despaired a little. How were we going to make the 2005 election - surely a foregone conclusion - exciting? The Conservatives were stagnating; the Lib Dems weren't showing many signs of life. Turnout was bound to be lower than ever.
Not any more. One figure jumps out of today's Mori/FT poll: the fact that 41% of the electorate say they haven't yet made up their minds who to vote for on May 5. Michael Howard has also cut the "capability" margin - the percentage point difference between the Labour and opposition leader when voters are asked who would be the more capable PM - to 14%. William Hague lagged 39% behind Tony Blair in 2001.
The columnists are excited, even if the electorate isn't. Philip Stephens in the FT (subscription needed): "Apathy has become the enemy of certainty. The election may be interesting as well as important." Steve Richards in the Independent (subscription again): "If enough voters [cast a protest vote], there will not be a Labour government." And the lovely Clemency Burton-Hill (an actress, darling, on the stage) in the Telegraph: "Forgive me, Grandpa, but I'm voting Tory … there may well be others in my artsy, cosmopolitan and avowedly liberal circle who are harbouring similarly treasonous plans."
