Blair, Rival Moving Debate From Iraq

[tuvor]

Prime Minister Blair, Rival Agree It's Time to Move Election Debate Away From Iraq

LONDON Apr 30, 2005 — With Britain's election days away, Prime Minister Tony Blair and his main rival agreed it was time to leave behind a dispute over the Iraq war that has dominated their contest of late.

Blair has been buffeted by questions about the legality of the Iraq war, and claims by the opposition Conservatives that he lied about the advice he received from his top legal adviser.

On Friday he tried to refocus on domestic issues.

<snip>

Conservative leader Michael Howard, who has led the attack on Blair's character and integrity, also suggested it was time to move on.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=716978

[Kagemusha]

1. Way to go Howard! Totally waste that pre-election bomb will you!

What an idiot...

[asjr]

2. Well, you know Iraq is so "yesterday." Why go on and let the

public know the truth.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

3. There's a big reason why Howard isn't going to use it anymore...

...because Howard is an even bigger hawk that Tony BLiar. Howard said he still would have invaded even if he knew there were no WMDs in Iraq, and this damaged the Tories (Conservatives - GOP UK) in the opinion polls.

The war is deeply unpopular and Howard pushing the War issue played into the hands of the 3rd party Liberal Democrats who opposed the war originally.

[LeftishBrit]

4. You're right there!

It's difficult to be nastier than Blair, but Howard seems to manage it quite easily.

I think lots of people will vote for the Lib Dems or smaller parties, and quite a few won't vote at all.

[IndianaGreen]

11. The alternative to Blair is not the Tories but the Liberal Democrats

Charles Kennedy's Liberal Democrats are against the war in Iraq and want an immediate withdrawal of all British troops. The Tories voted for the war despite the fact they disagreed with Blair's reasons for the war. Sounds familiar?

[frictionlessO]

5. Wow! political idiocy is a very catchy disease apparently.

I think this might have more to do with keeping less Lib Dems getting into office...
Could one of our British friends tell me Im wrong or right and what they make of it?

[Anarcho-Socialist]

6. I agree...

...some of the close Conservative-held seats where the Lib Dems are in 2nd place are in danger of being lost to the Lib Dems. There is the threat to the Tories of anti-war Labour voters switching to the Lib Dems to vote the Tories out.

Howard's focus on the Iraq War has been a disaster for him, since most British people opposed the war and because Howard was more of a hawk (and still is) than anyone in Parliament.

[AP]

8. Driving voters to the Lib Dems might be Tories best chance for success.

Howard might have said what he said intentionally.

People are still pissed off at the Tories for the Thatcher/Major years, and Blair showed everyone how easy it is to run a country for the economic benefit of people who work for a living.

So the Tories only hope of winning is if a lot of people vote Lib Dem in districts where Labor is narrowly ahead of the Tories.

The Tories' election strategy is to sneak in through the back door.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

9. My advice to those in Tory/Labour marginals...

...has always been to exercise caution if they're going to protest vote for a 3rd party. Voting with one's conscience might bag you a local nasty, racist, xenophobic, homophobic Tory in that respect.

My aspirations for the future is for Blair to step-down after the election (which he already plans to do, but no one knows when), and for some sort of cordial relations between Labour and the Lib Dems that can keep the Tories out of power for eternity. (at least until they accept social liberalism)

A centre-left coalition can benefit the country greatly and help tackle Britain's social problems that revolve around class, gender and race. Had Labour and SDP/Liberals (Lib Dems) had come to an agreement in the 1980s, the Thatcher nightmare would never have been.

Perhaps my aspirations are optimistic but I think they would benefit both Labour and the Liberal Democrats and Britain at large.

[AP]

10. My hope is that the Tories become marginalized beyond the point of no...

...return and that Labour becomes a center party with greens to the left and Lib Dems to the right and that the debate is over not whether there's progressive taxation, investment in infrastructure, etc., but is over how much, and that all the Tories' favorite backwards-looking, reactionary and racist issues disappear forever from legitimate public discourse.

[AP]

7. Blair needs to talk about domestic issues to win. Howard can't talk about

Iraq because if he does criticize Blair, he's going to get a vote of no-confindence within weeks of becoming PM when people realize that his goals in Iraq are much closer to Bush's: using it to make cronies rich and to make Europe's economic prospects bleak.

Anyway, Howard wants to run on xenophobia and racism.