| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Britain | |
| Tory MPs back Hillary Clinton for president | |
| 2008-01-29 | |
| Tory MPs are forging links with Hillary Clinton as the traditional alliance between the Conservatives and the Republican Party shows signs of increasing strain. One Conservative MP is so convinced by the Democratic senator and wife of former president Bill Clinton that he travelled to the US this month to work on her campaign. Simon Burns, the MP for West Chelmsford, has spent nine days pounding the streets as a member of Team Hillary. Other Tories backing Mrs Clinton include Alan Duncan, the shadow secretary of state for enterprise, and Nadine Dorries, the MP for Mid-Bedfordshire. While most Conservatives support John McCain, the Republican senator who addressed the party's conference in Bournemouth two years ago, some modernisers are turning to Mrs Clinton because they fear Mr McCain will lose the nomination to a more Right-wing candidate such as Mitt Romney. Mr Burns turned up unannounced at the Clinton campaign headquarters in Manchester, New Hampshire, offering to work for free. He said: "I walked in and I said 'I want to see Hillary Clinton as president and I'm prepared to work in any way you want to try to help'. "I said, 'Look, I'm British so the accent might not be helpful and I happen to be a Tory MP'. For those who understood what a Tory MP was politically, they were very good about it. They immediately put me to work. I did a considerable amount of telephone canvassing and helped with 'visibilities'." This is a technique whereby campaigners stand at crossroads with placards chanting slogans as drivers hoot their horns. Mr Burns, who met Mrs Clinton at a rally, said he had told the Tory leader, David Cameron, about his activities. "He asked, 'Did you have a good time?' and I explained what I had done and he just listened. I can't speak for him, but he is an intelligent and astute politician, so he must be interested in Hillary." An increasing number of Tories have become alienated from the Republicans during George W Bush's presidency because of the situation in Iraq. Mr Burns said: "Maybe it's perceived as a bit odd for a Tory MP to want to support Hillary Clinton but the Republican Party has moved so far to the Right and has been captured by a rather unpleasant religious agenda, and the Tory Party under David Cameron is not equivalent to that. I have nothing in common with them and I wouldn't have thought many of my Conservative colleagues had either." Mr Duncan, who supported the Democrats in the last two American elections, said: "I'm for Hillary unless it's McCain, in which case I'm for McCain. Over the last 10 years I have been worried about the American deficit, the increasing dominance of the Christian Right and the need for deeper understanding of the Middle East."
A Clinton victory is an interesting prospect for Mr Cameron who last year distanced himself from "neo-con" Republicanism. MPs point out that Clinton and Cameron have similar stances on childcare and health and that Mr Cameron has much more in common with a centrist Clinton than he does with the American religious Right. Mr Cameron has not declared a preference, although earlier this month he said he admired Barack Obama, the rival Democratic contender, whom he called a "brilliant speaker". One senior Tory said: "He likes the fact that some of his MPs are Democrats. In the end it's the big picture that counts for him and if it's Hillary he will make it work." | |
| Posted by:ed |
| #11 IRAN-DAILY > GENDER AND THE POLITICS OF HATE; + IRANIAN.WS > THE LAW WAS WRITTEN FOR MEN. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-01-29 22:13 |
| #10 Curious that most of the world don't know their boundaries when it comes to interfering every four years in the American political process. But let one word leak out that the US gov has a preferred candidate and all hell breaks loose. So the best antiseptic is the glare of publicity and a well deserved backlash from American voters. In short, ESAD. |
| Posted by: ed 2008-01-29 17:29 |
| #9 Another reason (as if we needed one) to NOT vote for Billary. Mind your own goddam business, idiots. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-01-29 15:12 |
| #8 The Brits aren't going to have a say before long. Better talk to their new masters in Brussels. |
| Posted by: mojo 2008-01-29 11:48 |
| #7 EXC, That should be "British" "Conservative" party. They've sold out on the referendum about the EUSSR not-a-constitution. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2008-01-29 10:32 |
| #6 Ah yes, the British "Conservative" party. Now imagine if American Congressmen were campaigning on behalf of UK MPs. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2008-01-29 10:20 |
| #5 a large proportion of tories made their peace with the welfare state in the 1930s, and were never all that happy with Thatcher. |
| Posted by: Dopey Flotle8127 2008-01-29 09:54 |
| #4 Here's an suggestion. Most Americans don't care who runs your country and would prefer that you stay the fuck out of ours. You should've picked up on that about 230 years ago... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-01-29 09:14 |
| #3 http://www.order-order.com/2008/01/derek-conway-should-repay-40000.html This guy is still not sacked. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2008-01-29 08:17 |
| #2 Romney is too right-wing for them? I guess it's a good thing for them that Fred Thompson dropped out. Lord, what the Tories have become. |
| Posted by: Spot 2008-01-29 08:07 |
| #1 I seriously do not know if this is satire or not. I don't want to find out, either. |
| Posted by: gromky 2008-01-29 04:45 |