Political editor Paul Francis looks back over the campaign in Kent

Blame Gordon Brown. Or Gillian Duffy.

The former Labour leader's comment in the 2010 about "that bigoted woman" has cast a long shadow over this campaign.

Despite all the leaflets, posters, polls, battle buses, rallies and photo ops, this has been a strangely lacklustre election battle.

The overriding concern of our would-be representatives has been a determination not to make a gaffe or unguarded off-message remark - especially in front of the media.

Candidates have parroted their lines, their five-point, six-point and ten-point plans and pledges with all the woodenness of a particularly bad amateur dramatics production.

Passion and authenticity have been hard to find.

David Cameron's belated bid to inject some energy into his own rather flat performance by rolling up his sleeves, dispensing with his tie and saying he was feeling "bloody lively" drew widespread derision.

Journalists covering the campaign have been smothered by political white noise, a constant (and irritating) thrum of on-message messages.

A standard response to a media question about anything at all would often be: "Well, what is really important is..." before declaring all their key party commitments or explaining what was wrong with their rivals' manifestos.

And despite their repeated claims in the months leading up to the formal campaign that the Garden of England would be "absolutely decisive" in the outcome, both Mr Cameron and Mr Miliband stayed away from what was supposed to be a key battleground.

Why? After throwing the kitchen sink at the Rochester and Strood by-election last year which was won by UKIP's mark Reckless and visiting five times, Mr Cameron gave it a wide berth and stepped foot just once in the county but gave no interviews.

And despite Labour's anguishing about the party's "Southern Discomfort" since its wipeout in 2010 not a single senior figure made it down to Kent during the campaign.

True, they had a light coating of celebrity gloss with visits by TV star Ross Kemp and celebrity cook Delia Smith to Thanet.

But for a party that since 2010 has made it abundantly clear it recognised the need to win seats in Kent, the absence of any senior figure on the campaign trail was perplexing.

The bragging rights were won by the least likely leader: Nick Clegg.

The Liberal Democrat leader made it down twice to swing his weight behind the party's efforts to pull off the most unlikely coup by ousting the Conservatives from the Maidstone and Weald seat.

Related stories

Your guide to today's election

Re-live the election campaign in pictures

It's Tony Blair, isn't it? How voters did at recognising our leaders

For those visits that did take place, all parties kept the media under strict control.

On the plus side, they did recognise the importance of talking to the local media.

But the paranoia that leaves politicians fearful of an ambush by rivals meant that the operational notes forewarning us of a visit came in two stages: the first telling us there was one but giving only a tantalisingly glimpse of what might be in store.

The second would come on the day of the visit - or very late the preceding evening - often just hours before they happened.

When it came to meeting bona fide voters the potential was strictly limited.

Often, it seemed that VIP visitors were reminiscent of Headless Nick from the Harry Potter books. Eerily present but somehow untouchable.

The Conservatives have at least treated South Thanet as a genuine battleground, sending down a clutch of senior figures to bolster candidate Craig Mackinlay in his fight against UKIP.

But while some VIPs engaged enthusiastically with people, others failed to meet a single genuine voter.

The campaign briefly flared into life when Boris Johnson came to Ramsgate, striding around the town surrounded by a chaotic melee of the media pack and Ukip activists jostling with Conservative supporters to get their placards in shot.

But his exuberance and energy and willingness to talk without looking at a briefing note - and to pose for pictures eating ice cream - only underlined how stage-managed other VIP visits had been.

Ukip had its own distinctive style, of course.

Its leader Nigel Farage was among the more accessible politicians, rarely refusing to do interviews and often straying into subjects that clearly caused his aides heart palpitations.

But as the campaign went on, he was sometimes frustrated and pushed on to the back foot by stories emerging about candidates.

The crisis caused by claims about expenses made by the now former Folkestone and Hythe candidate Janice Atkinson was just one example of how the party was derailed.

For all their efforts, perhaps the greatest irony is that over the weeks, the polls have barely shifted at all.

Now the parties have laid cards are on the table, it is time for voters to twist or stick.

Stories you might have missed

'Diet pills might seem like a quick fix, but they're not'

The election wait is over...

As the campaign trail reaches a dead end...

VIDEO: Just how recognisable are top politicians?