Stars and Stripes
Having just been in the United States, the universal anger and disappointment directed towards President Bush is just astonishing. The savagery of the criticism of his conduct of the war, either privately or in the media, is so much greater than criticism of Tony Blair here. The drawdown of British troops from Basra will be greeted, however dressed up, with horror in parts of the Administration, as the US bolsters its own troop numbers.
Republicans are currently very pessimistic. All the current candidates like Giuliani, Romney and McCain are seen by many to have their drawbacks: most seem to think that the Democrats will win irrespective of whether it is Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. A number of Republican commentators now even look back on Bill Clinton’s presidency with greater regard.
As Harold Wilson observed,however, a week is along time in politics……….