"The charge that he was "a British Clinton" seem to have been off target."
Couldn't disagree more. (Well, okay, Clinton was better in the "sex factor". But that aside...)
He has mastered the single greatest Clinton skill: He can say a tremendous amount that _appears_ on topic without actually engaging with any opposing arguments or evidence. Never was that clearer than in his recent speech. Every sentence was qualified, every issue blurred. Iraq being related to Al Quaeda? Well, uh, maybe, but I'll include both in this heterogenous list, and maybe it will confuse the issue. The search for WMD falling apart? Carreer in jeopardy? No problemo, we'll just make some vague-yet-threatening references, and we come off smelling like roses!
Of course, the British press stays on him like the proverbial bulldog. But he seems to play well in America. Too bad yankees don't vote in brit elections. :)
To me, at least, he seems to be making himself more like Clinton, not less. He's diving for the middle, abandoning his party's traditional politics in favour of a more "smooth" approach, and using a savvy media image to deflect contentious issues, rather than facing them head on (or even flanking them a little).
To me, at least, he's a dissapointment. He could have been great, and he settled for slick.
Jester
Couldn't disagree more. (Well, okay, Clinton was better in the "sex factor". But that aside...)
He has mastered the single greatest Clinton skill: He can say a tremendous amount that _appears_ on topic without actually engaging with any opposing arguments or evidence. Never was that clearer than in his recent speech. Every sentence was qualified, every issue blurred. Iraq being related to Al Quaeda? Well, uh, maybe, but I'll include both in this heterogenous list, and maybe it will confuse the issue. The search for WMD falling apart? Carreer in jeopardy? No problemo, we'll just make some vague-yet-threatening references, and we come off smelling like roses!
Of course, the British press stays on him like the proverbial bulldog. But he seems to play well in America. Too bad yankees don't vote in brit elections. :)
To me, at least, he seems to be making himself more like Clinton, not less. He's diving for the middle, abandoning his party's traditional politics in favour of a more "smooth" approach, and using a savvy media image to deflect contentious issues, rather than facing them head on (or even flanking them a little).
To me, at least, he's a dissapointment. He could have been great, and he settled for slick.
Jester