BLAIR AND BUSH
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James Joyner | Wednesday, March 19, 2003 |
BLAIR AND BUSH: Tony Blair continues to be derided as “George Bush’s poodle,” but it has been clear to me since September 12, 2001 that Blair has been the more eloquent spokesman for the twin causes of the War on Terrorism and regime change in Iraq. The comparison is perhaps unfair, given the systemic differences. British Prime Ministers are almost invariably schooled at Oxford or Cambridge, master debate skills, work their way up the ranks of their party rank structures, and submit to the tortures of Question Time. US Presidents come from a wide variety of backgrounds, although in recent years most typically a state governorship. They learn to talk folksy to a local constituency and then, in actually running for direct election to the White House, to speak blandly so as to avoid the wrath of the press and to impress an uninformed electorate.
Still, the contrast is striking. The power of Blair’s speech to the House of Commons of yesterday, adapted for this NY Post op-ed, is significantly more palpable than Bush’s speech of two nights ago. (Hat tip to RCP.)
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia.
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