Ten More Years

‘IT is 10 years to the day since a young Tony Blair, all big ears and cheesy grin, became leader of the Labour party and Gordon Brown embarked on the longest sulk since Achilles.

A picture of the modern Republican party

And time has not been kind to the man they used to call Bambi.

According to a poll in this morning’s Guardian, the only two attributes that Blair has more of today than he did when he became Prime Minister are arrogance and experience.

Curiously, he is seen as less tough than he was in 1997, as well as less understanding of normal people and with less personality.

Most people (55%) think he lied over Iraq; almost a third (31%) want him to step down immediately; almost two thirds (62%) see him as too presidential; and more voters (38%) think life has got less fair in Britain under Labour than more fair (22%).

But for all Blair’s problems (as evidenced by a -22% net approval rating), it is the Tories who have most to worry about this morning.

The survey shows that, even with Blair in charge, Labour have a five-point lead – a lead that would more than double if Brown took over before the next election.

On the other side of the Atlantic, President Bush faces a tougher challenge, with latest polls suggesting that he is narrowly trailing Democratic challenger John Kerry.

The problem? Bush is – wait for this – ‘too liberal’, according to a powerful lobby of conservative Republicans.

The Telegraph says that more than half the Republicans in the House of Representatives have signed a letter to the President complaining about the lack of pro-life (i.e. anti-abortion) speakers in prime-time slots in the party’s convention.

And the National Review says the proposed line-up, which includes Rudi Giuliani and Arnold Schwarzenegger, is not ‘a picture of the modern Republican party’.

Or a pretty one…’

Posted: 20th, July 2004 | In: Broadsheets Comment | TrackBack | Permalink