In the shorter term, the polls this weekend indicate that voters are as disenchanted with the Lib-Dems as they are with Labour and the Tories.
The Lib-Dems withdrew support after House of Lords reform was blocked.
And Blair is clearly trying to position himself as the sort of centre-right establishment party in British politics, the Lib-Dems are there to be the centre-left opposition, a little bit more tax a little bit more spend.
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Although roughly even numbers of seats would be lost across the parties - 16 Conservative, 17 Labour and 14 Lib Dems - that would represent 24.6% of the seats the Lib Dems won last year, compared to 5.2% for the Tories and 6.6% Labour.
These have proved controversial, with critics - including some Lib Dems - warning of "back-door privatisation".
But the overall bonus pool for London will still be several billion pounds, which will be viewed by many - including many Lib Dems - as too much.
Three parties - Labour, Tories and Lib Dems - have also named candidates for Wales' first double by-election.
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On Tuesday, 26 coalition MPs - 16 Conservatives and 10 Lib Dems - voted against the government by backing a House of Lords amendment stipulating that individual councils should be given the right to opt out of the temporary planning rules changes.
David Heath - Ms Harman's opposite number in the Lib Dems - asked that Justice Secretary Jack Straw be asked to address the debate in Westminster Hall, but Ms Harman suggested it might be upgraded and held in the Commons chamber.
In other words what was emerging was - in the Lib Dems' view - a sense that there had not been complete intransigence from the other EU states overnight.
Now, you cannot - even if the Lib Dems allowed it - introduce a regional benefit cap, or end housing benefit for under-25s and so on - because there is not the time left.
All the candidates were asked to respond to the complaints but several parties - including the Lib Dems, Conservatives and Labour - have not commented.
It is not that UKIP is necessarily snatching votes from the Lib Dems - the two parties are at opposite ends of the political spectrum.
Down south, they argue, the Conservatives gained from a splintering of the anti-Tory vote, as some ex-Lib Dems recorded protest votes with Labour or the Greens.
That's why we built the coalition with the Lib Dems - A Partnership with Scotland - founded, as every honest coalition must be, on a common approach.
Mr Clegg, who is visiting the Hampshire town on Wednesday, said there were "very clear" differences between the policies of the Lib Dems - who control Eastleigh council - and the Conservatives.
Although they are in coalition nationally, Mr Clegg said there were "very clear" differences between the policies of the Lib Dems - who control Eastleigh council - and the Tories in the marginal constituency.
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The Tories rejected any suggestions of a deal but as the weeks passed Labour looked to be opening up the possibility of negotiations with the Lib Dems - sending a confusing message to the voters at exactly the wrong time.
If the coalition works, voters may warm to the idea of power-sharing, and to the proportional voting systems that inevitably give rise to it. (A referendum on the alternative-vote electoral model, which the Lib Dems prefer over Westminster's first-past-the-post system, is part of the deal.) And the Lib Dems got all this despite flopping at the polls.
The increase in capital gains tax - which the Lib Dems see as not only a sensible reform, but as fair - has been less spectacular than they advocated.
An elected Lords is a long-cherished goal of the Lib Dems but one opposed by many Conservatives - more than 90 of whom defied the government in a vote on the issue in July.
The Tory right blames the confusion on the coalition and those nervous, left-leaning Lib Dems.
The nub of Nick Clegg's message was "stick it out, it will be worth it" - the Lib Dems could be the kingmakers again after the next election.
In 2010 the Lib Dems lost control of Sheffield - the city which includes their leader Nick Clegg's parliamentary constituency - leaving it with no party in overall control, though the Lib Dems had remained the largest party, with one councillor more than Labour.
Speaking to the Independent newspaper, Richard Reeves - who stood down as the Lib Dems' director of strategy on Thursday to work in America - said Tuesday's vote was a "critical moment" for Lords reform and "a once-in-a-generation chance" to secure it.
After all, New Labour must compete with other parties, even if it does manage to co-opt the Lib Dems.
There's one other difficulty facing the Lib Dems in particular - an argument within the party about how it recovers.
Most Conservatives cannot abide the Lib Dems' pro-Europeanism, and much of Mr Clegg's own party wants nothing to do with the Tories either.
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But, the Clegg camp responds, the Tories were wiped out in the big northern cities years ago, leaving only the Lib Dems for government-haters to kick.
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