Imagine if the outcome of the general election is a hung parliament, and the Liberal Democrats go into a coalition with the Conservatives to form a government. Public opinion of the Shadow Chancellor George Osbourne is pretty low to say the least, even the Tories aren't relying to heavily on him for electioneering. In contrast, the public have a high opinion of the Lib Dems treasury spokesman Vince Cable, who is seen by many as a well rounded, confident operator, and someone the public would trust with their tax pounds.
Surely then, one of Nick Cleggs bargaining chips must be that in the event of the tories requiring the support of the Lib Dems to form a government, he could demand that Vince Cable be installed as Chancellor of the Exchequer to take control of the ecomonic recovery in the UK.
This would be something that the public would go for, the City would accept, and parliament would certainly not be objectionable to. The problem that I see with this however, is that the tories would not be at all keen at having a Lib Dem in the treasury. Infact, if it came down to it, I'd hedge my bets that the tories would rather go to the people sharpish on the back of a minority government in an attempt to get a full mandate.
Two elections within a year, don't know how well that would go down, its something which just doesn't happen here.