The Right-Wing Blogosphere Tamed?

There has been plenty of chatter on the Lib Dem blogs lately about Iain Dale and his increasing tendency to allow his credibility to be compromised in the service of carrying CCHQ's agenda for the day forward a bit. I mean, come on; this is one by-election (for the Tories at any rate; they don't stand a chance in Sedgefield). I know that, with the Brown Bounce and the none-too-rapturous reception their most recent policy announcement received, the Tories are desperate to show that the wheels haven't come off their return to power. But really, is this a suitably impressive looking altar for Iain to sacrifice his credibility on?

The only reason I can think of for this bizarrely irrational behaviour is a belief that the result of the Ealing Southall byelection genuinely could unseat Ming (which I don't think it could), and that if he was deposed, we would suffer hugely from it (which I don't think we would - we have several great candidates for leader in the wings). Perhaps he thinks that a new leader wouldn't have the time to bed in before a snap election if one were called. But if that is the case, he forgets that we fought and won the Dunfermline by-election with no leader at all.

Meanwhile, Guido has now similarly started to ditch the ostensibly independent-but-right-of-centre position that he has affected for as long as I have read his site. A little while back, Mr. Staines threw his weight behind Ireland's Progressive Democrats in the Irish elections. In the last couple of days, however, he has fallen in line behind Boris Johnson's campaign for mayor. Admittedly, not behind the Tory party per se (and we should acknowledge that he gave the Tory e-campaigning expert the reaction he deserved recently), just behind Boris. But one can detect a certain shift in tone towards Boris from, say, a month ago to now.

Last but not least, we hear of a Cameronite "balance" to ConHome in the pipeline.

Is it just me, or has the Tory blogosphere taken a distinct turn for the tedious lately?