With Boris Johnson vocally setting up 'the people vs parliamentary elites' and promising a public spending splurge, the terrain of opposition has to fundamentally change.
Both Jo Swinson and Ed Davey have approached the leadership election offering restoration, not transformation. But the need for transformation and social liberalism has never been greater.
Politicians show sympathy for the sadly premature death of Charles Kennedy - but none for the ordinary alcoholic, facing cuts to services and threats of charges for A&E use.
Lib Dem supporters of the NHS have come up with simple, radical suggestions for saving it from privatisation. But the party leadership is trying to suppress their recommendations.
Lord Rennard was key to the rise of the Lib Dems - and the dirty politics that came with it. This is why so many Lib Dems have been quicker to defend him than they were to stand up for the NHS.
