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The end is nigh. The political parties have only hours left to convince us to support them; and little more time to rehearse their lines for when the results come in.

Some, I suspect, will be better-rehearsed than others, despite the absence of some regular alibis for below-par performance in Welsh elections, Messrs Brown and Blair.

It's not difficult to see which party will be first to share "this was always going to be a difficult election for us", a polite version of blaming Nick Clegg.

The referendum on the parliamentary voting system should offer a handy excuse for those who feel that distraction inhibited their ability to get their message across.

We can probably add bank holidays, Easter and the royal wedding to the list of options for parties seeking to mask electoral disappointment. Oh, and the weather's been far too nice for politics.

The London media can always be blamed for failing to enthuse their readers with exciting tales from the Welsh campaign trail despite suggestions that devolution doesn't sell quite so many newspapers as the death of the world's most wanted man.

"Someone stole my placard" probably belongs to "the dog ate my homework" school of excuses, although you may yet here it before dawn breaks in Cardiff Bay. The phrase "dirty tricks" may yet appear on election night programmes.

Few are predicting a big turnout. Voter fatigue in our second trip to the polls this year could be used to explain that one.

Honesty may be the best policy after all. Perhaps the disappointed could borrow the phrase of the American political strategist, who greeted one setback with the phrase: "The people have spoken - the ***".

Join me, and Sarah Dickins, as we try to guide you through the night on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio Wales as the polls close at 10pm on Thursday night.