Not being funny but you might want to consider if people actually know what you guys stand for.

Thats what a friend said to be when we had a conversation about the election in Scotland. My response was thus:

Its not being funny. It is a fair point. I joined the Labour Party because of what I thought it believed and that resonated with me. I left that party and joined the Lib Dems because of the policies of the Labour Party and the Lib Dems.

The debates with the party leaders showed this problem. Nicol Stephen was the worst in explaining what his beliefs were. As a Lib Dem I do subscribe to the agenda of the state creating a framework for people to live and work in peace, free from state dictation or assault. Nanny statism and loss of civil liberties annoy/concern me. Yet all of these are a reserve matters and nuanced explanations of economic liberalism are difficult to convey in short discussions with the voters.

The best way to say is that I believe in a open and free society, in which the state should seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance and conformity.

But how can that be put in a sound bite?