Is AV the reason why the Lib Dems are performing so poorly?

We are hearing it again and again that the Liberal Democrats are losing supporters all across the country and we are receiving low opinion polls month upon month. So could AV be the reason for this?

I am a broad supporter of the coalition. I believe it was necessary to have a stable government at a time when the economic situation in the country was gloomy, to the say the least. I know that coalition is about drawing up government proposals that both parties will not be completely happy with, but it just seems to me that pushing AV through parliament means that we have lost our bargaining power on other policy areas.

I remember that weekend after the election and welcoming the protesters visiting the Lib Dem HQ and Nick Clegg speaking to them, but looking back in hindsight this my have given the impression that the Lib Dems stood for only one thing, proportionate representation. This is not worthy of a party that is looking to have a large say on how the country is run.

I am suggesting rather than each party trying to get a complete policy through eg The Conservatives get 'Free Schools' in turn for us getting all our constitutional reform bills through, as a party we should have bargained policy by policy. This would mean we would get reform of the House of Lords, but wouldn't get a referendum on the Alternative Vote.

In turn we could have negotiated a much better settlement for Higher Education, that reflects more the Liberal Democrat policy of abolishing tuition fees. We may not have got the abolished, but maybe the current cap would stay in place and upfront fees would be abolished.

This way true Liberal Democrat policies in each area would be introduced and the party would not be seen as a one trick pony whose only interest in government is to get fairer votes.