Is gloom the new boom?

Vote for us and we'll freeze your pay, cut your benefits, not cut your tax...Tories now seem convinced that gloom is a vote-winner because we're all convinced that the country's in such chaos http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/oct/07/pensions-crisis-analysis But will people really vote for less than they have now. And seeing as this is politically rather than economically motivated, hasn't the left's battle-ground now opened up before it? "It doesn't have to be that bad."