The Liberal Democrat bird of liberty has never before flown this low. It has been a long 45 years of pride as the only real third party in British politics. Now liberalism has been driven into the wasteland. Politically irrelevant and utterly ignored by the British media. You’d have hardly guessed there’s a new leader with how little has been seen of him.

Back in 2010 the Liberal Democrats stood for three things – The hopes of the young, the distrust of the authoritarian tendencies of the major two parties, and the protest vote. The first they lost in the PR catastrophe that was student tuition fees, the second they lost as a party of power which sided with the Conservatives, the last they lost to the booming popularity of UKIP and the Greens.

So what are the Liberal Democrats left with? They don’t dominate any single demographic and people have forgotten what they stand for. They command no media attention to change these impressions or build a base. How can they possibly move forward from here?

The #libdemfightback is a noble campaign but it is doomed to fail as long as it continues to bounce around the Liberal Democrat youth without ever escaping into the real world outside them, the world which cares little for internal political chat with people who get their news and opinions from what their friends post on Facebook. or from the BBC.

It’s time to look at what Britain First and the Greens do right. What the Conservatives do right. What they do right is that they pick a simple, popular position and they hammer it home. They hammer it home with hyperbole, with repetition and by calling on the base emotions of pride, anger and fear.

The reason the Liberal Democrats have lost the ear of Britain is because too many in the party believe they’re better than that. They believe they can continue to champion sensible and dignified politics, intelligent causes aiming for intelligent results. They believe the common sense of the British people means eventually everyone will see how right and just they are. Unfortunately, that’s simply not how politics works anymore. The Liberal Democrats need to learn how to be viral, they need to learn how to be seen.

Not all of this is about how to broadcast your image. It is also about what your image is. The second major problem with the Liberal Democrats is that they have lost their message. Lack of conviction one way or the other has become the standard for the party, exemplified by Tim Farron’s inability to condemn discrimination against homosexuals when asked if they were sinful – We’ll accept your beliefs whatever they are, just let us believe whatever we want as well.

That’s simply not good enough in this political arena. It’s a perfectly “nice” position to have but it doesn’t translate as real conviction. It is a conviction to being without position. It’s a dedication to letting people vote for someone else.

The Liberal Democrats need to embrace their core beliefs with more strength than that. They need to discard the messages which leave room for nuance and being “nice”. It is time to pull out the tough rhetoric with tough policies. Fight hard against the policies of the war on drugs and frame them as murdering our youth. Campaign against Trident as a threat to our national security, starving our military of resources in the name of a vanity project. Condemn radical Islam as anti-women and don’t pause for breath before decrying radical Christians for homophobia. Don’t sit on the fence for economics – champion the best of capitalism whilst demanding the bankers who break the rules are dragged before court. Insist on a true living wage framed not by socialism but as a vital step to end benefit culture and reinvigorate British capitalism. Call for an end to jails which pump out as many criminals as harmless recreational drug users are shoved in but bring about a crackdown on sexual violence and tax evasion. Hoist a guillotine over the heads of the banks with sanctions that not only bust a hole into the side of their business but slap those responsible behind bars.

For too long the Liberal Democrats have been too nice. Being liberal does not mean being quiet or soft. It is time to strike hard against intolerance, be forceful against inequality and be tough on rule breakers and oppressors. It is time to bring in a new kind of muscular liberalism which shouts loud enough to be heard and casts a shadow wide enough to win. It is time to not only grasp public sentiment and emotions but turn them to drive the liberal message. It is time for an end of the party of “live and let live” and time for a party that insists on LIBERALISM in block capitals.