Herald nice about a Liberal Democrat shocker

I've often felt that when journalists at the Herald write about the Scottish Liberal Democrats, they dipped their keyboards in poison first.

I was surprised then, to see this in yesterday's leader describing Willie:

A doughty campaigner, with an unpatronising down-to-earth style, Mr Rennie may grow into an impressive leader, building a level of credibility that has eluded his two immediate predecessors. Not since Jim, now Lord, Wallace has the Scottish party had a leader of stature and authority. 

The whole thing was actually quite fair - although I take issue with the assertion that "it is a measure of their desperation that the only politician prepared to take the leadership was Mr Rennie." The Party feels fortunate to have a leader of Willie's varied experience. He is exactly what we need at this time - and that's no reflection on the others, who are very good. Alison McInnes is an expert on public services. She knows all about local Government and transport particularly. Jim Hume, as a major player in the NFU knows pretty much everything there is to know about rural affairs. Liam is great on financial detail and Tavish has the respect of the business community. They're all good and will make a formidable team.

I agree totally with the final point the leader made:

 In effect, Alex Salmond has already fired the gun to begin the campaign for the independence (lite or otherwise) referendum. It is now up to his opponents to make a case for enhanced Scottish self-determination within the Union in a way that is not only intellectually coherent but also emotionally appealing.

The future of our nation is way too important to have a no campaign which takes any lessons from the No to AV campaign. If we reject independence because we're scared, we'll feel really crap about ourselves. If we reject it because we think that there's a better, positive and ambitious future for Scotland, it'll be great. And a positive campaign will be much more likely to succeed.