I am not voting Tory until the Atlanticists regain control.
Regards, Ivan
Posted on 07/15/2004 5:46:03 PM PDT by MadIvan
The Democrats have made their first public overture to Tony Blair, praising his style of leadership and contrasting it with the stance of his ally President George W Bush.
After months of Democratic teeth-grinding over the closeness of Mr Blair - a natural ideological friend - to their arch-enemy, Senator John Edwards, the party's vice-presidential candidate, suggested that Mr Blair and Mr Bush are not as alike as Republicans contend.
Hailing the Prime Minister's acceptance of responsibility for intelligence failures over Iraq in the Butler report, he attacked Mr Bush for not doing the same after last week's report by the US Senate on American intelligence failings.
"Tony Blair didn't run from the [Butler] report," Mr Edwards said on his first solo campaign trip since he was picked by Senator John Kerry, the presidential contender, as his running mate a week ago.
"It's because he understands what leadership is," Mr Edwards added.
"What we need in the White House is somebody who has the strength, courage and leadership to take responsibility and be accountable not only for what is good, but for what is bad. That's what John Kerry will be," he added.
Democrats said yesterday the comments were aimed primarily at chipping away at the image of Mr Bush, rather than wooing Mr Blair.
But they also amounted to the first public attempt by Mr Kerry's campaign to query the staunchness of the link between Mr Blair and the president.
With the latest polls still suggesting that the November election will be very close, Democrats recall that Mr Blair was close to Bill Clinton in 2000 before bonding with Mr Bush and are daring to hope that in a few months he will have to perform a similar turnaround. But Republicans dismissed Mr Edwards's remarks, accusing him of cherry-picking quotes from Mr Blair's reaction.
They highlighted the Prime Minister's subsequent ringing endorsement of his decision to go to war in Iraq, which was not cited by Mr Edwards.
Since Mr Blair announced that Britain was "shoulder to shoulder" with America after the September 11 attacks, the Blair-Bush relationship has been a source of delight to Republicans and increasing bewilderment, if not irritation, to Democrats.
As if that was not enough of an upset to tradition, even as Republicans have hailed Mr Blair as a new Churchill, ties between Republicans and the Tories have been strained over Michael Howard's criticism of Mr Blair's pro-American stance.
In recent months the Washington political rumour mill has been alive with speculation, particularly in Republican circles, that Mr Blair would have a sticky relationship with a Kerry White House if Mr Bush is defeated in November.
But Kerry campaign staff yesterday played down such talk.Mark Kitchens, the deputy press secretary for national security, said: "Senators Kerry and Edwards fundamentally understand diplomacy. They understand that you have to reach out to your best allies.
"And they understand that the United Kingdom is one of our best and most important allies." When Mr Blair visited Washington in April to plot with Mr Bush the final countdown to the handover of sovereignty in Iraq, the politically convenient theory was bandied about that he and Mr Kerry's diaries had been too busy for the two to meet.
Downing St would probably find a new set of difficulties with a Kerry administration. He is close to the Kennedys and the powerful Irish lobby in Boston, which might cause tensions over Northern Ireland. He has also made much of the need to repair ties with Europe but has said little about the "special relationship" with Britain.
I am not voting Tory until the Atlanticists regain control.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
The damned Dems are DESPERATE!
I think Tony Blair has been magnificent. I hope that he and Bush are able to keep leading the war on terror. I shudder to think what will happen if the 2 strongest leaders are defeated.
Your not voting Tory? Wow.
Didn't you tell me some time ago about Blair's unease over Iraq/Hussein dating back to the early days of his leadership?
I'm voting UKIP until such time as Howard regains his senses.
Didn't you tell me some time ago about Blair's unease over Iraq/Hussein dating back to the early days of his leadership?
Yes.
Regards, Ivan
Didn't Blair describe Clinton as "Weird?"
Regards, Ivan
Can't say I know much about the UKIP.
Ok, thanks.
(Is Kilroy-Silk one of theirs?)
Just had a quick glance over the site.
I can appreciate their objectives of disengaging with the EU.
Can't understand why they have 12 members of the European parliament though, if that is their aim? Would they be Chiracs enemy-within?
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2003/9/29/113200.shtml
Monday, Sept. 29, 2003
Tony Blair: Clinton Is 'Weird'
Leftist ignorami such as Barbra Streisand say British Prime Minister Tony Blair was a huge fan of Bill Clinton. Not so.
A new book reveals that Blair said he found Clinton "weird," the London Times reported today.
Blair and Clinton had several arguments, one of them lasting 90 minutes, the book "Hug Them Close" says. Author Peter Riddell says Blair was heavily uncomplimentary about Clinton's "contribution" to peace talks on Northern Ireland.
As for Clinton's successor, Blair bombarded President Bush with a stream of confidential advice, particularly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the book says.
The messages, comparable to those sent by Churchill to Roosevelt during World War II, have up to now remained a secret. British officials, eager to avoid the image of the prime minister seeming too close to the president, have said little or nothing about them.
The book reveals Blair wrote them frequently, in a jerky style, highlighting areas for action.
This is just more Dem hypocrisy. Blair hasn't said anything that Bush hasn't basically said as well.
http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=807202004
Yes, I imagine that a man of Blair's character and courage wouldn't think much of Clintigula.
I am not voting Tory until the Atlanticists regain control.
Whoa!
MadIvan on Kerry: "This suggests he was happy to send the troops away so long as he could leave them stranded."Epic.
Ivan, can you believe, the playground mentality, of "he was
our friend first"!! What a bunch of mamby pamby babies.
I've got more balls, and I'am a girl.
Gotta chuckle at this one! Kerry wont even admit he's a liberal, much less take responsibility for his actions which arent popular! "I actually voted for it before I voted against it" indeed.
Of course, Kerry is just an example of the disingenuousness of the modern Democrat party. They know they cannot possibly get elected on the merits of their ideas, because raising taxes and regulating every aspect of our lives while cutting our defense is an unwinnable platform. So they lie and pretend to be what they arent until they win. That they continue to get away with it year after year we can thank the press for, and the general lack of interest the general populace has for educating themselves in the actual performance of their public officials.
Goths stay up late, drink, many smoke, wear leather and PVC, listen to things other than Tracey Chapman and Alanis Morisette records. In short, we do all sorts of things the liberals find repulsive or would give them heart attacks if they tried it. There is a natural synergy.
Very professional looking site. And that bottom graphic is pure goth. Slashcode?
PostNuke, modified by yours truly to a certain degree. I took my time with this - I wanted it to be just right, and so far, so good.
Regards, Ivan
Blair and Bush have the same stance on the war. They praise one and hate the other with a yellowcake passion?
Make no sense. Then again, leftists never do.
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