Could McCain be skewered by his own law?

Could McCain be skewered by his own law?

Will Obama be able to outspend him by three or four to one? One statistic that came out of Tuesday’s Wisconsin primary was that in the TV advertising war in the state Barack Obama spent five times as much as the cash-starved Clinton campaign. That’s a massive difference and might have had an impact on the outcome. Looking forward to a McCain-Obama contest in November could the Democratic campaign have a similar overwhelming advantage? And if it does could the…

Read More Read More

Will Martin survive the expenses row?

Will Martin survive the expenses row?

How long can he go on after his spokesman’s resignation? The big political news in the UK this morning is about the future of the Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin, following the resignation yesterday of the £2000 a day consultant whose job it is to deal with the media on his behalf. The Mail on Sunday splashes its investigation and reports that the advisor, and former Whitehall mandarin Mike Granatt, had quit “after admitting that the Speaker’s…

Read More Read More

Server Migration Complete

Server Migration Complete

Surprisingly, the server migration appears to have gone through relatively painlessly. Hopefully the site should run a little more quickly now, especially under heavy load. Thanks for your patience, Robert

Is it premature to say “It’s all over – Barack’s won?”

Is it premature to say “It’s all over – Barack’s won?”

Will this be the shot we’ll be seeing on January 20th 2009? A couple of weeks ago Madame Tussauds produced the above display showing a wax life-size model of Barack Obama in a mocked up Oval Office. Maybe it’s a bit premature to feature this and even if he gets the nomination he still has John McCain to beat. But there’s a list of good news stories for the young senator this morning Washington Post columnist, Al Kamen, declares “Let’s…

Read More Read More

Could the Tories be vulnerable in a by election in Henley?

Could the Tories be vulnerable in a by election in Henley?

Boris says he’ll quit as an MP if he beats Ken The Tory candidate for London Mayor has said this afternoon that if elected he will resign as an MP thus creating a by election at his seat in Henley in Oxfordshire. At the 2005 general election Boris held the seat with a 53.5% vote share. The Lib Dems were in second place on 26% with Labour at 15%. On the face of it the seat looks like a safe…

Read More Read More

Tory YouGov lead drops to 6%

Tory YouGov lead drops to 6%

A new poll with a sample of 2118 people is just out from YouGov for the Economist and shows Labour moving up a notch and the Tories down a point. The fieldwork was carried out from Monday through till Wednesday and so covered the Northern Rock nationalisation. The vote shares compared with the last YouGov poll at the weekend are CON 40% (-1): LAB 34% (+2): LD 16% (nc). The Tories will be pleased to remain in the 40s while…

Read More Read More

Is Hillary recognising the reality of the numbers?

Is Hillary recognising the reality of the numbers?

Was the Texas debate her valedictory? The overnight debate in Texas between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama certainly lived up to its billing with both contenders performing very well. There wasn’t a victor and Hillary did not get in the knock-out blow in that many were suggesting she needed. One of the critical moments came right at the end. The huge audience rose to a standing ovation as Hillary shook Barack’s hand and said “I am honoured to be here…

Read More Read More

Populus boost for Darling/Brown over Northern Rock

Populus boost for Darling/Brown over Northern Rock

Half the voters support nationalisation A “quickie” poll by Populus for tomorrow’s Times has some good news for the government over the Northern Rock crisis. A total of 519 people were interviewed last night with 49% backing nationalisation. The sample supported Darling remaining as Chancellor by 50 to 38 per cent. But it’s not all plain sailing. 58% blamed the Labour Government for some of the problems while 64% blamed the Bank of England and City authorities. There was most…

Read More Read More