Another day and we still haven’t got a deal. Newspapers today full of condemnation of ‘two faced’ Clegg opening up formal talks with Labour and the curious attempts by Brown and Labour’s high command to wreck the Tory/Liberal talks. That’s unfair – it’s looking more and more like Clegg wants to do the deal, but as yet hasn’t been able to get his party to go with him.

Yesterday’s performance by Brown was about freaking out the Lib Dem MPs, unsettling them and making the decision for them individually intolerably difficult. They’re also trying to create a media narrative that Labour are still in the game, which… well, let’s just say, ‘job done’ on that front.

But consider: Lib Dem MPs don’t have the support of Trade Unions or Lord Ashcroft to help with their on the ground campaigns, yet ground campaigns are what keeps Lib Dems in the House of Commons. They rely on volunteers, supporters and activists to run the sort of intense campaigns that cause little pockets of Lib Dem support to emerge.

In the back of every Lib Dem MP’s mind will be the need not just to retain ‘Anyone but the Tory’ votes, but their grassroots support too – the ones that do the actual work. Scottish Lib Dem MPs, especially, will be concerned about their future careers if a Tory/Lib deal is done.

It’s not just about getting a deal that’s good for the country. It’s about getting a deal they can justify to everyone else, one that stops them hemorrhaging volunteers and votes. There’s a begrudging acceptance that the Tory/Lib deal is the only one that can deliver a viable Government, and the promises of immediate AV depend on Labour being able to whip every single member of the Rainbow coalition to vote for it (which they can’t) and get it through the House of Lords (which they might not). It seems inconceivable that such a coalition could deliver what Brown has promised, and so as exciting as a potential Labour deal might have been, I think this prospect is something few believe is viable.

Nick Clegg’s taking his ‘clarified’ deal back to these Lib Dem MPs this morning. It’s all down to them. The reason they’re so desperate for some sort of PR is because they believe supporting the Conservatives will cost them millions of votes no matter how admirable, obvious and correct the decision might be.

So what now? What now is we wait. Again.

Today wasn’t supposed to like this. The Tories and the Lib Dems were supposed to have reached an agreement by now, shaken hands in front of the cameras and we were going to be moving on. The national interest and economic stability was going to be put first.

Instead, the negotiations have gone public. Labour’s deal – a bill to make AV the voting system immediately, without a referendum (assuming they can get it past the commons) has been made public. Brown has stepped down. Labour are doing everything they can to keep the dream of the Rainbow Coalition together. The Lib Dems, on the other hand, have sniffed at the offer from the Tories: A referendum on AV for the British People, and we now know it’s their final offer.

That’s it then. All we can do is wait. But suddenly it feels like the Lib/Con deal is off and the Lib/Lab deal is on, and I’ve completely lost my ability to look at this objectively. Lib Dem activists on Twitter are saying:

Apparently Tories have offered Lib Dems a referendum on Alternative Vote, final offer. Surely, surely, they can’t say yes? (@alexfoster)

@CharlotteGore If that’s their final offer, fuck ‘em, frankly. (@stealthmunchkin)

I’ve just finished on the phone with a Lib Dem that I know that works in a Constituency office. He says at least 3 people will tear up their membership cards if there’s a deal with the Tories. The grassroot Lib Dems are as thrilled with the idea of a coalition as the Tories, and in their contempt for each other we may well yet see tribal party politics prevail.

It’s all getting a bit horrible out there. The hope of a non-partisan Government that puts dealing with the deficit first is a very, very tough thing to just let go of just like that.

The Lib Dem’s dilemma is still an impossible one, but looking from the outside I still have to hope and believe it’s possible for them to do the right thing.