Hands up everyone who knows who Alf Landon was, or even Frank Knox. No? Oh dear, how sad for the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates for the Republicans in 1936. Admittedly it was a tough job, but someone had to do it and they did win 2 states, which against FDR at the very height of his popularity was no mean feat.
This reckoning was inevitable and 14 years too late.
The financial crash put an end to Thatcher/Reaganism as a working policy. But it survived because Osborne persuaded the public that this global event was because, pre crash, the Labour government budget deficit reached £35bn or so, an amount present governments could only dream of, and because in the US Obama let the bankers design the recovery policy.
Over the last 14 years we have seen different Tory Frankensteins try to shock life into the rotting carcass of a 1980's ideology. America it seems, still has quite some way to go and may need to go full Ayn Rand before it comes to its senses. For Britain, the concern that we were perhaps very stupid voting for Brexit has fatally wounded the credibility of neo-liberal orthodoxy. And now Labour can only whisper of its demise.
But I wonder whether its all too late anyway. New modelling suggests the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation may be nearing its tipping point, and its steady slowing could show it has gone already, which will manifest its terrible effects progressivey over the next decades. Its then all over. The sheer madness of economic policy making over the last 40 years is breathtaking. And all for what? A holiday in the med, a car, and a new kitchen.
I hope that Clacton rejects him and his dog-whistle politics. I do not wish to see him gain the platform and (albeit dubious) respectability that a seat in the Commons would give him.
Of course heartily agree but I fear he may win Clacton though I can’t see where else reform can win. Whatever the outcome it will be difficult to shut him up particularly if Tories rally round him following disastrous outcome for them. Lib Dem as second party is the way forward.
This reckoning was inevitable and 14 years too late.
The financial crash put an end to Thatcher/Reaganism as a working policy. But it survived because Osborne persuaded the public that this global event was because, pre crash, the Labour government budget deficit reached £35bn or so, an amount present governments could only dream of, and because in the US Obama let the bankers design the recovery policy.
Over the last 14 years we have seen different Tory Frankensteins try to shock life into the rotting carcass of a 1980's ideology. America it seems, still has quite some way to go and may need to go full Ayn Rand before it comes to its senses. For Britain, the concern that we were perhaps very stupid voting for Brexit has fatally wounded the credibility of neo-liberal orthodoxy. And now Labour can only whisper of its demise.
But I wonder whether its all too late anyway. New modelling suggests the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation may be nearing its tipping point, and its steady slowing could show it has gone already, which will manifest its terrible effects progressivey over the next decades. Its then all over. The sheer madness of economic policy making over the last 40 years is breathtaking. And all for what? A holiday in the med, a car, and a new kitchen.
Maybe Mr Farage will win 2 seats and quickly be forgotten? One can only dream
I hope that Clacton rejects him and his dog-whistle politics. I do not wish to see him gain the platform and (albeit dubious) respectability that a seat in the Commons would give him.
Of course heartily agree but I fear he may win Clacton though I can’t see where else reform can win. Whatever the outcome it will be difficult to shut him up particularly if Tories rally round him following disastrous outcome for them. Lib Dem as second party is the way forward.