Ah, the Liberal Democrats. Rewind the clock four years and they were the darlings of the UK political scene.
Everyone agreed with Nick. Now the party is moving ever farther from the centre of power and back to the margins. Yes, they are still the junior party of government at Westminster and, of course, there is the chance that may be repeated if there is a hung parliament in 2015 but are they really going anywhere?
There are some good people in there. Willie Rennie, for example, is a very capable leader in Scotland and is doing as well as he can in challenging circumstances.
But the position he finds himself in is incredibly difficult and the most recent Holyrood by-election results don’t give much to cheer about. They were beaten by Ukip in Cowdenbeath. Ukip.
The party can take the moral high ground on Police Scotland, having identified and predicted many of the difficulties that have manifested themselves during this centralising process.
Willie Rennie and Alison McInnes are also on the ball when it comes to holding ministers to account for their seeming obsession with dismantling the Scottish justice system but issues like this alone will not rescue the Lib Dems’ credibility north of the border.
Their conference at the AECC three days in a gigantic venue, bold move will go a long way when it comes to taking the temperature of activists. It’s worth remembering members voted against a central coalition policy, the so-called bedroom tax, when they were gathered in Dundee this time last year.
Facing a possible wipe-out in the European elections, things are not going to get any easier for the Liberal Democrats. Whether or not they have the character to bounce back from this could define their political relevance to Scotland.