This is what the BBC wrote earlier today:
"In an interview with ITV1's Trevor McDonald, Samantha Cameron said he was "very strong" and a "fantastic dad".
Mrs Cameron also admitted her husband had some irritating habits and said the prospect of their life changing if he became prime minister was "daunting".
She is expected to feature on the campaign trail ahead of the election."
I was watching Sky News live this morning and coverage of the coming election is focussing on the fact that wives like Samantha Cameron are now being used as accessories to increase voters for their respective husbands. While Sarah Brown wept as her husband was interrogated last week by Piers Morgan, Samantha Cameron will feature on ITV1's Trevor McDonald tomorrow at 2215, and in the meantime the BBC are hammering away at various members of the LibDem party to get Miriam Clegg to admit if her husband is also messy. Aside from the fact that using women to target women is quite an ingenious move, people are now referring to Mrs Brown and Mrs Cameron's "endearing speeches". Do we really believe that either of these men possess endearing qualities? Or do we really care? At the end of the day, they're attempting to tug at the Great British public's unrelenting heartstrings. Good luck to them, I say.
It's all part of a wider trend towards Presedentialisation. Before New Labour elections gave victories for party politics, not personal profiles. Perhaps the growth in media exposure has caused this - Tony Blair was always fantastic for a soundbite (indeed some have suggested that he had his speeches written in such a way as to make it easier for TV crews to take a clip) - but marks the trend across the whole spectrum of parties converging on the centre ground. In the 70's something like 90% of people who voted went for either red or blue. In the last election around 40% of votes were for non-mainstream parties. Electoral participation is at an all-time low, and people in the UK were probably more excited about the US election than they will be come May.
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