From the UK desk: Tony Blair’s got Clinton Syndrome: that’s where you stab a liberal member of your party in the back to appease rightists who aren’t going to vote for your party in any case. Even though Old School Labour Party MP Ken Livingstone won 75% of the popular vote in the ’selection’ ballot (which I suppose is like a primary,) a ‘New Labour’ candidate will stand for the post of Mayor of London. Livingstone will run an independent campaign for mayor. What’s interesting about all this is that this is the first election of a Mayor of London in several years. As does the US Congress when facing a population unwilling to vote conservative, Thatcher’s Torries killed local rule to get rid of the progressive wing of Labor in the position. Blair’s restoring the office of Mayor, but it’s clear that ‘New Labour’ will only tollerate the the Torries in drag that Labour has become in the office.
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