There’s one thing that the Yes side don’t appear to want to campaign on, the one single issue, that I really believe will turn this campaign around for them. The fact that voting No last time actually did some good.

It’s pretty much the only difference between Lisbon 1 and Lisbon 2. The fact that every country gets to keep a commissioner.

This isn’t just a victory for Ireland, it’s a victory for every member-state, as they will all get this right. It was something which caused me trouble under Nice (remember David Byrne having to address the issue, by saying we’d keep our commissioner for hundreds of years…) and it made for some great posters in Lisbon 1.

“Keep Our Commissioner – Vote No”

And people did, and as a result every member-state retains their commissioner (or retains their right to nominate their commissioner, let’s not start a debate on whether commissioners represent member-states, they don’t – but they do come from specific member-states and thus have a more representative viewpoint – and in a time when the EU spends a huge amount of money on advertising and polling on attitudes to the EU, you’d hope they might know those attitudes at the top table.

So job done, victory gained for everyone, and it baffles me why this single difference between Lisbon 1 and 2 isn’t being acknowledged or used by the Yes side.

So the one poster that’s missing?

“Keep Our Commissioner – Vote Yes”

Because under the Nice treaty the number of commissioners is capped, and as the EU has grown substantially since Nice was passed, the number of commissioners is up for renewal, and it will rotate. The voters were asked to Vote No to keep their commissioner, they did, and now they should be asked to vote Yes for the same reason. They were listened to, they got a better deal. It’s obvious. Micheal Martin repeatedly talking about comprehensive polling and guarantees is fine, but it’s muddled and slightly incoherent. In this day and age of communications, being simple, clear and coherent is key. And even then, the one thing that’s changed solidly (that the No side cannot possibly contest), and it’s being ignored by everyone on the Yes side.

Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore will sense the wind, they’ll see people are annoyed over Nama, and an 83% dissatisfaction rating is pretty dissatisfied (from today’s TNS/MRBI poll in the Irish Times). So why wouldn’t the people take it out on the Government? Any suggestion Lisbon 2 is a referendum on Cowen and/or the government means the treaty is dead. Simple as. The Yes side needs to change the narrative on why people are voting on this referendum for a second time, and that needs to be because they got what they wanted by voting No first time around.

The people who voted Yes in June of last year will vote Yes again, those people are covered – though getting a few more of them out to campaign can’t do any harm!

One friend of mine told me earlier this week of an idea for canvassing, ask people if they’ll vote Yes, and if they will, ask them to be proactive in bringing about a Yes vote, put a sticker on their car for example (a plain sticker saying “I’m voting Yes” – the yes side need to demonstrate the fact they are in the majority, not just in D4.

One view is that you can change the minds of No voters by telling them that their views and concerns have been addressed. But how about telling them the truth? That their vote mattered, that it was important, and that it made a difference, it means that every member-state, including Ireland gets to keep their commissioner. What can be more pro-European than making sure every member-state has a seat at the top table?

The only reason I can see that this isn’t being used is arrogance, most of the yes side last time are still on the pitch (just wearing different colours) – and the one thing they don’t want to do is acknowledge that a better deal was done. They want to be right last time for the same reasons they believe they’re right now. But that’s failing to acknowledge the majority of voters in the most obvious way. The legality (or need) for the guarantees can take up the space available (after Nama) to discuss Lisbon – or the Yes side can focus on the one specific and rather obvious one, the C word. The Yes side last time said Ireland couldn’t have an automatic right to a commissioner every five years, they said it was impossible. It was done, and that is the singular most compelling reason to vote Yes, the failure to acknowledge and campaign on this will be the failing of Lisbon 2, but hopefully not Lisbon 3.