Just a bit to the Left.
Speaking the tooth
You put your left leg in...
Mistakes? I've made a few (two actually)
No, it's not the Eurotunnel
Grin and bear it.
'Aaargh! It's Peter Foster'
Tearful: 'I'm not Superwoman'
Posted on 12/11/2002 4:54:40 AM PST by ejdrapes
Cherie Blair acts out her kohl-eyed Diana moment As a barrister, Cherie Blair knows very well how to use her powers of persuasion to try to influence the jury on behalf of her clients. In her dramatic and emotional statement last night, the Prime Minister's wife sought to appeal over the heads of the media and the political classes to the members of the national jury - the British public. It was a huge gamble. But, although the jury has not yet delivered its verdict, it will probably in the end pay off. Like all good barristers, Mrs Blair tugged on every heart-string she could find to make her case. She tried to turn the defendant (in this case herself) into victim rather than villain. She attempted to make the jury members empathise with the accused so much that they could almost imagine being in the dock themselves. She even broke down in tears as she admitted the mistakes she had made and promised to repent. Questions remain about the way in which Mrs Blair behaved over the purchase of two flats. But this was Cherie's kohl-eyed moment, a Diana-like performance based on emotion rather than on explanation, a statement that meant more than the text of what she said. And as all lawyers know, emotion can - particularly when the facts of a case are a little confused - be an extremely powerful force. Of course, this was the speech that Mrs Blair has spent years trying to avoid. Ever since her husband became leader of the Labour Party, she has lived under a virtual vow of silence, eschewing public statements and turning down interview requests. Although she clearly has strong views, she has - apart from the odd slip - done all she can to keep them to herself. More than anything, she has tried not to create even the tiniest chink in the armour surrounding her personal life. She hates the media with a vengeance and will have nothing to do with the newspapers. In fact, this self-imposed purdah will have given her sudden appearance last night an even greater impact on the people watching it on television at home. For most of the jury members up and down the country, this was the first time they had seen the Prime Minister's wife say anything substantial. An icon, whose image is plastered all over the newspapers day in day out, became a real person, just as Diana, Princess of Wales did when she gave her first television interview. Suddenly Number 10's imperious First Lady, with a penchant for taking free Tuscan holidays and a liking for polenta, was a vulnerable woman, struggling, just like them, to combine her roles as a wife, a mother and a lawyer. The Islington snob with the whacky crystals turned into an ordinary parent with a surprisingly low voice and a slight Liverpudlian accent. The strident "Superwoman" with have-it-all tendencies dissolved into tears at the mention of her absent son. The extraordinary celebrity figure suddenly seemed ordinary. This has always been Tony Blair's great trick, of course - the ability to look like an ordinary family man with chinos and a people carrier. After five years in office, the Prime Minister has inevitably lost the knack. Last night, Mrs Blair deliberately played up the "everywoman" image - she described her instinct to protect her family's privacy as an instinct "which I think any mother would have". Although she said she was, as the wife of the Prime Minister, in a "very special position", she insisted that she was ordinary. "I know I am not Superwoman," she said. "The reality of my daily life is that I'm juggling a lot of balls in the air." Again she appealed directly to her audience: "Some of you must experience that." More than anything, Mrs Blair stressed the vulnerability that she - like most people - feels. She described her desire to "crawl away and hide". She admitted her insecurity about her looks and her dress sense, much pilloried when she first came into the public eye. When her husband became leader, she realised she "had to get her act together" and turned to a style guru, Carole Caplin, for help. There was even a hint of the sort of money troubles experienced by many others when she said, through gritted teeth, that the sale price of their Islington home was the "only remaining capital" her family had. For women in particular, this was a powerful message. It will have made many members of the jury empathise more with the accused than the accuser. Mrs Blair hammed up her vulnerability, of course, but those who know her well say it is genuine. It is in fact the main explanation for the mistakes that has made. A working-class girl from Liverpool, Mrs Blair has fought her way to the best address in Britain, but is not completely confident there. As a barrister, she felt relaxed about her ability to do the job, but as a prime minister's wife she has needed other security blankets. Ministers close to the Blairs say that her dependence on Miss Caplin and other alternative therapists derives mainly from deep-seated insecurity. She fell for the conman Peter Foster partly because she was too easily charmed by his compliments. Her insistence on having her hair cut every day and her dependence on oddball ideas are like superstitions that she cannot throw off. "It's all about insecurity," said one senior minister. "Her career gave her an identity she was proud of, but she's had to put that on hold." Mrs Blair once said: "I started life as the daughter of someone, now I am the wife of someone and I'll probably end up as the mother of someone." Her prediction has been fulfilled, as she has got into trouble for buying a flat for her student son. But she hates the fact that her role has always been secondary. Her vulnerability will be her greatest strength with the jury, but may also be her greatest weakness.
By Janet Daley
Just a bit to the Left.
Speaking the tooth
You put your left leg in...
Mistakes? I've made a few (two actually)
No, it's not the Eurotunnel
Grin and bear it.
'Aaargh! It's Peter Foster'
Tearful: 'I'm not Superwoman'
Every time I see Cherie, I'm reminded of a character on a TV show I saw once while scanning through the channels. I didn't know the show, the character, or the actress, so I did a quick Google search for "middle-aged woman playing a teenage girl" and came up with a character called "Jerri Blank" (even sounds a bit like "Cherie Blair"), as played by actress Amy Sedaris:
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