Is Ken starting to clutch at straws?
April 1st, 2008Do the “April fool” video and stealing policies smack of desperation?
With just over a month to go and yesterday’s YouGov poll confirming that Livingstone has a lot of ground to make up, it’s starting to look as though the Mayor recognises the scale of his task means that almost any tactic can be tried in order to win votes.
At last night’s debate, he said to Johnson: “I’m stealing your policies. What sort of idiot, when they hear a good idea, wouldn’t take it on board?” Livingstone said he would copy Boris’s pledge to force misbehaving youths who are stripped of free travel, to carry out community service to get it back - having already said he had borrowed the idea of free bus travel for injured armed forces veterans.
The Greens’ £25 congestion charge for gas guzzlers has been swiped too - “When I saw Sian come up with the plan, I thought, ‘I’ll steal that’.” However, Livingstone said that the most important thing to him would be the BNP failing: “Whether I win this election or not, the thing that will matter most to me on that Friday is that the BNP haven’t won a platform at City Hall for their venom and their hatred and intolerance”.
Today saw the outtake from the campaign video - where Ken described his proudest political achievement as “smashing” New Labour into the ground. He insisted his comment was an April Fool - but is Ken trying to face both ways at once by reminding people of his independence from New Labour while simultaneously enjoying the resources of the Labour machine?
Zimbabwe update: the New York Times is suggesting that there are signs that Mugabe may be preparing to step down - the article is here.
Paul Maggs “Double Carpet”
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Isn’t the stealing policies thing an April Fool? have any sources other than the standard reported it?
If Ken had the same number of activists willing to put in the hard yards for him, I’d still give him a chance, despite the polls.
But he hasn’t.
And the odious BNP will win two, if not three Assembly seats.
Yes, but was it the Standard’s April Fool, or Ken’s?
Judging by how things have gone today, maybe Ken needs to reveal his number of sexual conquests.
Nick Palmer MP - I responded to you at 230-something on the last thread. Would be interested in your thoughts, as always.
4 - 430-something even!
2. I think 3 is probably beyond them. I’m told though, that if they do win 3, then under the Assembly’s rules, they become entitled to a committee chairmanship.
The video ’slip’ was done on purpose. Message - I hate the govt. a much as Londoners do, clever move.
http://adamboulton.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/04/is-ken-an-april.html
I am still predicting BNP get one seat max.
And ironically many fo the BNP’s new voters will probably have supported the Newt last time.
I don’t think these are all bad ideas. He becomes the anti-establishment radical again. He regains the sense of independence from the government that he would need to win. It might be too little too late though. But our experience from the US would suggest that in such small areas as these poll leads are more volatile.
On BNP, 5% will give them one seat, what % to get 2-3?
Would they have a very outside chance in whatever constituency they are stading-I’m guessing it’s City&East? Labour won with just 29% in 2004, or would they let the Tories slip thorugh the middle?
Not sure why the BNP are always singled out as “odious”. There are the Greens, Respect, Labour…
7. Yeah, real clever, he hates the party he’s a member of.
10. They’ll probably poll strongly in the Barking & Dagenham part of the constituency, but have no more than pockets of support now in Newham or Tower Hamlets. Labour should hold that seat.
9. It’s also because the election is much more candidate focused than party focused.
10. Balls certainly fits the bill for ‘odious’…
I’m reposting the below in the hope that someone knows the whereabouts of ‘Malcolm’ and thus contact the emergency services forthwith and afford him the medical treatment he so deperately needs. Poor chap !!
However should ‘Malcolm’, by some strange chance, turn out to be of sound mind, he will be receiving a letter from my solicitors as any comparison with that ConHome jailbird ‘Peter the Punter’ is clearly intended to severly tarnish my unblemished reputation.
“Jack W
You are a super poster, up there with Peter the Punter in my book.
Thanks
Malcolm
PS Does this make my poating a fan letter?”
by malc19ken April 1st, 2008 at 4:42 pm
New SUSA Primary Poll for Pennsylvania :
Clinton 53% .. Obama 41%
Clinton lead down from 19% 3 weeks ago.
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollTrack.aspx?g=2a5cb844-ebcb-4690-be98-eb64946485df&x=0,0
10. To get 2 seats would require anything from 6.4% to a theoretical maximum of 7.6%; to get 3 seats would require anything from about 9.6% to 11.4%. The exact threshold depends on how many votes are “wasted” on (a) the votes for minor parties which don’t win seats, and (b) the excess or surplus votes for the main parties above what they need for their seats.
Via Daily Kos, the certified results from Mississippi have given Obama a net gain of 2 delegates, now 20/13 to Obama. The link will give comfort to anoraks everywhere !!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132×5330945
Get Barry to prescribe Malcolm something for it Jack.
18 - All due to a sharp-eyed blogger as well
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132×5237601
We should issue an invite to ‘voiceofreason’ to come and post here!
In light of Harry Flashman’s link on the last thread, I’ve done some investigating of my own around the net. It’s remarkable what’s being said about some of our public figures.
21. If its on the internet it MUST be true
I was pointing out to John Looney that google can get him most of the answers to his questions. Still the Mandy claim was unexpected.
20 - Sorry Jack, thought you were posting official results from state, and didn’t notice you had posted the same link as me!
I can see Andrea or Rod doing much the same though!
19 Icarus. £239K might cure him !!
23 Morus. It warrants a second outing ….. Oooppps ‘outing’ - very much the wrong word for the day.
23 Further. Actually Andrea would know the colour of each male delegates Y fronts and the percentage to the nearest nano point of each families voting record for eight generations …. at least !! …. and provide the information before you requested it !!
22. It’s a bit difficult if you don’t even know what the question is
The glorious Speaker is undergoing an investigation, specifically the £4,000 the taxpayer paid for his wife to go shopping.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7325138.stm
Rep Emmanuel Cleaver (Dem Kansas City) a Clinton super delegate has conceded that Obama will win the nomination :
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0408/Cleavers_bluntness.html
I think the Ken ’stealing’ things is actually quite good policy. He won eight years ago by appealing across parties and being seen as the man who would stand up against vested political interests regardless.
He’s surely trying to reenergise the 250,000 people who voted for him, but not the Labour ticket last time.
I suspect it’s too late to make much difference - but it’s better than anything his and Labour’s campaign have managed so far.
27. See that link - para after the Robin Cook / Adams stuff.
Is Comrade Bob really going to give it all up?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7325286.stm
Perhaps he could empty his dollar accounts.
Must be quite a political career to bleed a country dry after 28 years, and create hyper-inflation and then expect not to be strung up for it.
30 _ Dan, Why vote for a candidate that has to rely on stealing others ideas.
It only demonstrates that they have run out of innovative ideas themselves so why not vote for the original.
And yes I agree, its too late to turn things around now.
I think that part of any potential London Mayor’s appeal is being prepared to cock a snook at the establishment, so it’s probably a sensible move - and it has the virtue of being obviously true: Ken the loyal Labour clone is an inherently incredible concept.
To respond to Morus at 4 (435 on the last thread): yes, I think that it would be healthier if whipping in all parties was a bit more relaxed: it would be welcome if party leaderships recognised that there was a range of reasonable outcomes to many votes and it wasn’t the end of the world if members voted for policy A1 rather than A2.
But only a bit. If you start having free votes on everything, it becomes difficult to pursue a coherent policy at all, since people vote for the good stuff and reject the bad stuff. To take the example on a previous thread, there was a good case for a 1p cut in income tax and keeping the 10p rate, than the 2p minus the 10p rate. But on a free vote I expect we’d have got the 2p cut and still kept the 10p rate, with unpleasant fiscal consequences. Look at the mess that California’s referendum-based system has led to: lots of unwhipped voters deciding on nice stuff that doesn’t add up.
Very relaxed party discipline also means it becomes hard for voter Joe Bloggs to predict what voting for party X actually means, since it depends on how 300+ people, most of whom Joe doesn’t know, will interpret it. The shambles of some independent-run councils in North Notts illustrates the difficulty - they’re all so independent that they don’t agree with each other in any consistent way.
Finally, in purely practical terms, parties that work together in a disciplined way will generally defeat parties that keep beating themselves up. So if you believe in your party’s overall objectives, you don’t want to weaken it by constant rebellion without very good cause. You’ll want, instead, to influence it before the policies go wrong in the first place - and if you aren’t constantly lashing out you’ll have a more serious chance to do that.
31. Crivens, that is a fairly outrageous claim. I remember the other rumours…. but I’d never heard the one about the senior Labour figures.
I do remember reading, however, some strange remarks a a few years ago about “pashes” and “crushes” at the top of New Labour. Those would make more sense in the light of the rumour.
But quite possibly all bollox, of course.
A “summer of discontent brews for Gord”
From 24dash.com
The Prime Minister was today warned that the Government faces a strike by over 1.5 million council workers if he tries to cap pay rises for staff including refuse collectors and librarians.
Union leaders expect to be given an improved pay offer by employers tomorrow after rejecting a 2.2% rise last month.
Unison, the GMB and Unite are claiming a rise of 6% for local authority employees in Wales, England and Northern Ireland, which give a minimum wage of £6.50 an hour.
Gordon Brown told his monthly press conference at 10 Downing Street today that in order to prevent inflation from spiralling upwards, he intended to maintain the same “discipline” on public sector pay which last year saw rises limited to 2%.
Brian Strutton, national officer of the GMB, said: “If Gordon Brown is trying to pre-empt tomorrow’s local Government pay talks and cap it at 2% GMB can tell him it will lead to a strike.”
Heather Wakefield, national officer of Unison, said the pay talks were at a crucial stage, adding: “Having rejected 2.2%, we do expect an improved offer. Our claim is modest. It is designed to catch up and match up, to recoup losses from below inflation awards over the past three years and to cushion them against inflation over the coming year.
35. Here’s something interesting I found whilst looking for dirt on the net.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4156/is_20030302/ai_n12581606
100 year secrecy order!
By the way, don’t know if it’s been mentioned, but I gather that the LibDems have decided to vote against a refernedum on the EU Treaty in the Lords tonight, moving away from the abstention policy adopted in the Commons. If so, given the larger number of pro-EU Tories in the Lords as well, that should decide the outcome. The “I want a referendum” group have issued a press release expressing less than complete chuffedness.
36 This is what happens if economic policy is based on an uttterly deluded measure of inflation. GB has caused the BOE to stick to CPI as the level of inflation and therefore rates have been too low for years. The real inflation rate is so high that workers need bigger pay rises. GB will go down in flames as a result of economic mismanagement.
Oh great, strikes, just what we need.
I am far from clear why people are suggesting Ken should distance himself from Labour. It may have worked for him in the past, but the YouGov data suggests this might be risky this time.
Yougov suggests the Mayor’s ratings are no worse than the Labour Party brand in London:
1st Preference KL: 37%
Labour Assembly: 37%
By contrast, it is Boris who ‘adds value’ to the Tory party brand in London:
1st Preference BJ: 47%
Cons Assembly: 42%
Boris can hardly be accused of distancing himself from thr Tory Party - Cameron launched his campaign yesterday - and it does not seem to have prevented him from attracting non-Tory voters. In fact, YouGov suggests 22% of Labour “identifying” voters already say they will plump for Boris.
Is it possible that Ken Livingstone is the ‘toxic’ brand this time - and that as the most prominent local Labour personality, he is damaging the Labour party brand? By distancing himself from his party, his only remaining power base could disappear completely.
After all, in a multi-candidate election like this, Labour identifiers have plenty of other alternatives to Ken this time (Green, Respect, Lib Dems) - unlike in a General Election.
with this story breaking, isn’t 8/1 on zimbabwe leading PMQs great value?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7325286.stm
Ken - grey with a little green around the edges. He used to be so crimson. Boris - sparkling white and deep navy blue.
That’s how they come over to me. Mozart, by the way, is a gloriously bright yellow.
Glad I don’t still live in London. I’d probably take a day trip to Margate or Folkestone just to be out of the way. As it is we’ll be up in our Lodge in North Dakota. Probably won’t find out the result until we return to the UK in June.
Malcolm
42. But we don’t even know who’s going to be asking the question!
38. Disgusting.
45. Blimey if you think that’s the most repulsive thing that’s been posted today, where have you been?
41. Given that Labour polled <25% in both the constituency and list vote in 2004, and that they barely managed 30% for both in 2000, I would be astonished if Labour polled anything like 37% for the Assembly elections this time.
Labour will lose Enfield and Haringey and there is an outside chance of losing Lambeth and Southwark too.
Overall, I expect Labours vote share in the Assembly elections to be below 30%. They will probably lose two net seats overall.
36 As (a)A UNISON member (b)A Labour Party member still hanging in the balance as to whether or not to resign,
I urge moderation and reason from all sides..sadly I doubt that will be the case
46. Hypocrisy and the betrayal of manifesto promises to the British people by the political classes far outweighs anything that could ever be said here in terms of offensiveness.
A few Comments.
- The ComRes poll just demonstrates the volatility at the moment. Any short term benefit to Labour morale is in the psycology of the figures. a single digit lead means you think you can turn it round. when you are in the 20’s and your opposition is in the 40’s then panic just sets in and its a self fulfilling prophesy.
- re HRC. I think the male senators have done Hillary a favour. If they were going to move against her they should have done it straight after Texas. Its now to close to Penn to deny them a vote. Then its to close to May 6th. basically shes waiting to see if something turns up and it nearly did with pastorgate.
I think the dipping in the Penn poll lead will also help as it will lower expectations in advance as for example the “Big Ohio” win wasn’t actually that big just unexpected.
- re Nick Clegg-over. From a Lib Dem point of view I’m not actually that bothered about the content per se but. 1. its shows he can’t handle an interview with Piers Morgan which really he should be able to to do. 2. it all has a slightly cringe worthy “14 pints” aspect to it. ” I’m cool because I have shagged lots of women”. 3. however the crucial point is that we have a leader whol is a member of the metropolitan elite for the first time. Ming,Chat show Charlie and Steel had Scottish cultural roots. Ashdown had loads of real life experience and started ouit as a candidate when he was an unemployed youth worker.
Clegg has parchuted into a safe seat ( when was the last time a liberal leader sat for a urban seat?) and i suspect he thinks this kind of cringe worthyness is normal in media land which of course it is. but we are a rural and suburburn party and I’m not sure how it travels.
49. It may well be a betrayal, but if people want to kick Labour/Lib Dems out at the next election, they can quite easily do so.
42- It is clearer and clearer that he will accept to go.
Tsvangirai will start a press conference in a few minutes.
Further to (47) I see there’s some joker on Betfair who’s been going around putting down £100 at 1.01 lays everywhere on the Assembly Constituency Seats markets.
Cleary he/she hopes to make a few bob from people mistakenly taking it up as a backer!
Naughty, very naughty…
Would not the best option for both Brown and Ken be a very public argument between the two, followed by Ken leaving/Gordon throwing him out?
He loses - Same as before for Ken, better for Gordon than currently. Currently the most likely option.
He wins - Better for Ken, slightly worse for Gordon than currently, but better than Boris winning. But would be more likely.
50. I think the Obama surrogates are bringing up the idea now, so they can come back to it after Pennsylvania. I don’t think anyone hoped she’d drop out before PA votes.
PS. Can anyone speak authoratively on Tsvangirai? Is he a genuine democrat or another Mugabe-in-waiting?
re 32 if he is giving it up, perhaps we could invite him here to advise on the deficiencies in our electoral system.
51. And it is looking like they will..
In other news ..I simply don’t believe Ken is more toxic than Labour..as a final gambit its not bad distancing himslef..I must say I felt a bit of grudging admiration for him stating what the majority of the rest of us feel about New Labour.
Re Comres and Anthony’s analysis..it confirms what I thought..its Easter Hols and they seem to have really struggled to find many Conservatives..still Physcologically it must be a boost of some sort for ZaNU. -Lefties..all be it entirely delusional.
re 35 Pa Broon’s always causing his acolytes to say “Crivens”, but what does it mean?
46-Careful! Are you suggesting homosexual behaviour is unacceptable? The thought police will be round your place.
I’m thinking really about all the innuendo/suggestion of a whole manner of things.
Latest Gallup Presidential and Primary Trackers :
McCain 47% .. Clinton 45%
McCain 46% .. Obama 44%
Clinton 45% .. Obama 49%
http://www.gallup.com/poll/105952/Gallup-Daily-Obama-49-Clinton-45-Latest-Update.aspx
US embassy in Zimbabwe says President Mugabe will address nation shortly.
Tsvangirai thought to have won 48-49%. Reports say Mugabe speech to the nation imminent.
54- You have a somewhat stilted or rose tinted view of voter’s reactions.
People will see a split or disunited party at best, or a party in its final death throws at worst.
Ken will still lose and Brown will be perceived as presiding over the break-up of the few remaining true left wingers of the party.
Chuck Todd @ ‘First Read’ indicates that Obama outspent Clinton 5/1 in TV spots with Hillary restricting her spending to Pennsylvania. This has fuelled speculation that the Clinton camp is struggling for wanga :
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/04/01/846376.aspx
16 New SUSA Primary Poll for Pennsylvania gives Hillary an 8% lead, compared with Rasmussen’s 5% lead for her earlier today.
Meanwhile, Ladbrokes have further trimmed their handicapped bet on Obama +12% to 0.66/1 - still good value IMO with all the momentum going with Barack, although those of a nervous disposition may wish to see another couple of polls.
O/T: I’m looking forward to the FA Cup final rehearsal tonight!
I find the term ‘thought police’ rather ,well,inadequate-if someone sets out to be offensive,derogatory on the grounds of race,sexual orientation then as in the recent past violence against gays and ethnic minorities was acceptable behaviour to some,then words/actions implying such activity should be treated with equal gravity-if that makes me politically correct I offer no apology
62 63
I expect wide spread looting and possible riots if Mugabe loses : tribal paying off of old scores.
Hope I’m wrong.
Tsvangirai does not instal me with any confidence that in the long run he will be any different from Mugabe.
BREAKING WIND NEWS **** BREAKING WIND NEWS **** BREAKING WIND NEWS
The breaking news is that WIND is reporting to JNN the contents of Robert Mugabe’s statement :
“My fellow Zimbabweans and white racist settlers
I address you as President of the most economically successful nation on earth …. yes I’ve been invited to become President of Monaco. However now my plan to ensure all citizens of Zimbabwe have become millionaires has become an unrivalled success and it is now time to leave the stage.
I would especially like to thank Peter Tatchell for his invaluable human right advice, and in particular what to do with Zipper and Big Boy magazine on quiet Sunday evenings.
Anyway, Ciao suckers !!!!!!!!
Remember the date ……….
Jack - April fool only works before midday!
66 PfP. I think you’ll find the SUSA poll lead is +12 as linked in my 16 above.
Ben Brogan is suggesting he has been told that reports Jack Sraw will stand in for Harriet Harmen tomorrow at PMQs are ‘wide of the mark’.
He suggests they have all been having a little titter at her expense.
http://broganblog.dailymail.co.uk/
71 Exactly !! …. Breaking Wind News is always accurate !!
68, hmm. So what if I’m an orthodox Christian and consider homosexuality to be morally wrong? I’m not, and don’t, but you can’t run around demanding everyone holds the opinion of the consensus.
71 Icarus
If Jack says it then it must be true, 365/6 days every year!!!!
Malcolm
More on the Pennsylvania polls :
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/polltracker/2008/04/clinton-lead-slipping-in-pennsylvania.html
………………..
72 You’re quite right Jack, Duh silly me. That being the case it’s definitely worth waiting for more polls before taking the plunge.
breaking news
Tsvangirai refuses to confirm that there is an agreement for the departure of Mugabe
James Joyner on the possibility of Jim Webb as Obama’s Veep :
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2008/04/obama-webb_2008/
He doesn’t claim victory either
73 - Yes I can imagine!
68/75-Being intolerant of intolerance is a sign of being tolerant!!
The ‘Hillary deathwatch’ twitches up to 9.9 !!
http://www.slate.com/id/2187886/
O/T - Not sure if this has been spotted but the LibDems now have more positions on Europe than the Kama Sutra!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7324901.stm
85, pathetic cowardice from Lib Dems. Hardly a shock, sadly. We’d better hope the Irish say No.
85
Not cowardice.
It just PROVES msot most politicians are confirmed liars and only the credulous trust them.
2 “And the odious BNP will win two, if not three Assembly seats.”
and Labour made it possible.
It was the same in the late 70s.
Evening all
Plenty to talk about so here goes (as Nick Clegg might have said, or maybe not - who cares ?):
Zimbabwe: we can only hope for a peaceful transition into a post-Mugabe era but I’m very worried. Events here may make the Kenya bloodshed of last year pale into insignificance if there is a bloody settling of accounts. I do think South Africa has a stronger role to play.
London: I welcome the impending defeat of Ken Livingstone but have little or no confidence in Boris. That said, Boris has tapped into the zeitgeist by not being a serious candidate. If we are all going down the economic toilet, the last thing we want is to be constantly reminded by some dour leader hoe bad things are. A bumbling self-effacing joker is a useful antidote to a mood of gloom and that’s why Boris is going to win.
Immigration: The fact is that conservatives, socialists and liberals failed to understand the lessons of 1989 in the same way as they did in 1918. The post-Communist countries of eastern and central Europe weren’t allowed time to economically develop on their own - instead, they were dragged into the EU by conservatives as a way of thwarting the federalists. Capitalism equals the free movement of BOTH capital and labour so British people have bought cheap property while Polish, Czech, Hungarian and other nationals have come west as cheap labour.
89 - there are actually very few Czechs in the UK. Many more Balts.
58
crivens
1. crivens
A Scots expression of surprise or shock.
Crivens! Ma kilt’s on fire!
91. Or “crivens! I’m going to lose the next election,” presumably?
89 Zimbabwe. Everything hinges in the Mid level officer corps Captain, Major, Colonel etc. Forget the General they’d massacre the entire country for Uncle Bob. It those guys who’d have to do the shooting that matters. They’re the reason Mugabe didn’t declare victiry on Sunday as the Generals said they weren’t sure of their loyalty. Let’s hope enough remember some of their officer education training over here didn’t include ‘how to massacre unarmed civilians’ drill
With friends like these Hillary needs no enemies…
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/01/clinton-backer-obama-will-win/
I cannot believe that Mugabe will go quietly. Unless - I guess it could be seen as tantalising - he’s an old man, diplomatic immunity, leave someone else to deal with his mess, been in the job for 28 years, etc… but I had always got the impression he was a power hungry despot who would be there for life, so that’s why I’m deeply sceptical and wonder if it’s something that’s been put out by the opposition in an attempt to cause jitters in Zanu-PF.
68 I consider this obsession with policing peoples’ opinions one of the most odious features of the past 10 years. You, I think, expressed your desire to see social services break up a particular family because of their “racist” opinions. I think that is the hallmark of societies like Zimbabwe.
According to Guido it will be Boris that takes on the Harriet Harridan tomorrow at PMQ’s. It should be a hilarious spectacle!
http://www.order-order.com/2008/04/boris-will-do-pmqs-tomorrow.html
95-Why should he?
-he’s lionised by most African leaders
-he’s lionised by many on the progressive left because of a) his role in colonial wars, b)not being white
-he knows no one is going to invade and topple him
-there are no strategic resources in Zimbabwe
-he has previous in 1983-1984 in Matabeleland
He’s also learnt the lesson that if you are prepared to shoot your own people you’re home and dry. Especially if anything done about it can be claimed to be “neo-colonialism”–>guaranteed to get those in the top two captions on side.
Irnonically the most vocal opponents of Mugabe in the UK belong to the homosexual movement. I somehow suspect they wouldn’t care less about him, and would indeed support him, as a progressive beacon, were it not for his “homophobia”.
94. I guess it’s becoming blindingly obvious (to everyone but Hillary, it seems) that there’s no way on earth she can win this nomination.
She should give it up whilst she has a shred of dignity left. Drop out, regroup, focus on a later presidential run or a powerful job in the Senate (first female majority leader, coupled with Pelosi in the House of Reps and, for instance, President Obama would fill many with a great sense of hope and would be very symbolic) and congratulate Obama on a good race.
But no, this is Hillary, a woman I have realised is not as savvy and as brilliant a prospective leader as I once thought she was. She reminds me of Brown in a way - I think she’s felt since 2004 (or earlier!) that 2008 was hers and no-one, but no-one was going to get in the way of her inaliable right to govern. That is why she’s lost. She just didn’t expect to be beaten, not once, and she couldn’t play the underdog as well as her husband (probably because Bill never went into the 1992 primaries as hot favourite). Heavens, she tried, but I think now all that did was expose her weaknesses even more.
Carrying on to the convention will split her party, leave Obama at an immediate disadvantage in the general, and will probably destroy her future chances at holding high office for the Democrats. Gee, Hillary, was it worth it?
I disagree that Obama is a lock on to win the Presidency, though. As I’ve said before I think people underestimate McCain at their peril.
97 April fool????????
98. As a homosexual myself, I have to say that Mugabe’s butchering of the Zimbabwean economy and the ruining of its people matters more to me than his homophobia.
85. Its a beltway story but it does look bad when the Lords group has one policy and the Commons has another.
Perhaps, on revisiting the article I see it was done first thing this morning. I really have to get my glasses changed. But if true it would be a delightful spectacle!
100 / 103 - With Guido it’s very difficult to tell April Fools posts from the rest.
103 I am confused: would getting your glasses changed be a delightful spectacle or delightful spectacles?
Plus, outside the English-speaking world Zimbabwe matters very little. No one gets exercised enough about it.
98. I don’t think anyone in Britain on the left or the right has any time for Mugabe.
NEW THREAD **** NEW THREAD **** NEW THREAD **** NEW THREAD
Something about Boris’s tackle and Harriet’s Body Amour
very unedifying to see nick palmer gloating about how the democratic wishes of the public are likely to be overridden by the hol. nice to see that other champ of democracy mugabe on the way out though
105. lol Probably both!
109. What do you expect from a member of an authoritarian party?
102. It’s not a beltway story, it’s a Westminster Village story. Please can we remember which country’s politics the average person isn’t bothered about.
I notice betfair are betting on whether the BNP wina seat at City Hall. Really fancy them to win at least one but what odds would people suggest about them doing so so I can ask for a back price. I am tempted to ask for evens but need to strike a balance of getting matched and getting VFM