’)
So, I’m sort of a weird fanboy/observer of British politics, and as a detached observer I sort of feel that current PM Gordon Brown was dealt a bad hand. The economy didn’t tank on his watch, but people blame Labour and by extension, him. And then along comes this really charismatic guy in the opposition party – David Cameron. (Gordon Brown’s boring nerdness also reminds me of our own Goracle)
But now, even though the press has all but annointed the Conservatives as the winners in next year’s election, a new poll seems to show a much smaller lead than it was previously.
Now, unlike conservative American bloggers I’m not going to pretend that the UK Conservative party is really conservative. They’re frankly considerably to the left of the Democratic Party. If they win the election, it isn’t like they plan to dismantle the NHS. As best I can gather, they’re mostly up for being “not it” with the economy and bailouts, and for appearing slightly tougher on immigration.
And the mischievous side of me kind of wants some wackiness, so that something bizarre like the Liberal Democrats winning happens. That would be like the Green Party being an actual viable party in America, rather than an occasional expression of Ralph Nader’s ego.
So, go Gordon!
(DISCLAIMER: I don’t know a whole lot about British politics, what I do know I get from the BBC, Brit tabloids, and FRANCE24 which has really pretty anchors)
Gordon Brown wasn’t “dealt a bad hand” as you put it. He was Chancellor for the 10 years that Blair was Prime Minister. He was instrumental in the endless trail of poor decisions and mis-management that led to us having a higher rate of borrowing than every previous Government COMBINED and our woefully inadequate defence against the sub-prime fiasco.
Nerd is too good a word for him, since nerds generally know what they are doing and are even quite good at it.
Brown may be a smart guy, but he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing in Government. It’s painful to watch.
He has no mandate from the British voter, and it’s frankly disgusting the way he was allowed to take office by his mate who was on the way out, based on some arrogant agreement they’d made years before.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no sucker of Cameron’s cock, but if he gets in at least it will be because he was chosen at the ballot box. What would Americans do if you had a leader who was just handed office without actually being elected? Oh, wait… GWB… you’d take it up the tailpipe too, right?
Conservatives in Englad ARE very conservative. It’s just that Oliver Willis doesn’t actually care about the economic issues that have the biggest impact on most peoples lives. Like a lot of Americans “liberals”, only Abortion, Gay Rights, and social issues like that actually count.
UK cons are not economically conservative in an American sense. Pay attention to them for five seconds and you would know instead of spouting crap. The whole reason I’m a liberal is largely due to liberal economics, which insists on being based on reality and actually helping people.
UK cons may be more liberal than your lot, but they are for making the rich richer and screw the poor. Cameron and his crew are mostly old Etonians and 60 odd of his candidates come from the financial sector.
Oliver, please don’t wax intellectual on the Green Party without doing some reseach. The Green Party has been organized in the United States for decades, and it was only an arangement of convenience that Ralph Nader ran for President under their banner once. He has run for president numerous times, only once did the Green Party nominate him. He’s never been a member of the party, and he isn’t one now, and the party is completely unrelated.
The only time the Green Party has been relevant was with Nader.
Don’t sweat the fanboy obsession with British politics — that’s somewhat acceptable, especially compared with my ongoing fascination with Belgian politics. Mind you, Belgian politics are the most interesting in the developed world…