bookmark_borderOg så skred Ammitzbøll



Simon Emil Ammitzbøll
Originally uploaded by Radikale Venstre

Det går mig en del på, at Simon Emil Ammitzbøll har forladt Det radikale Venstre.

Jeg var enig med ham på mange punkter, og jeg er generelt enig i den kritik, han har fremført.

Jeg har aldrig været en stor fan af Margrethe Vestager som leder, og jeg synes, hun begik store fejl i sidste valgkamp.

Et midterparti kan kun få maksimal indflydelse ved at være i stand til at samarbejde til begge sider, så hverken højre eller venstre kan vide sig sikre og derfor er nødt til at overbyde hinanden.

Hvis man binder sig for fast til en af siderne, mister man sin indflydelse og bliver til simpelt stemmekvæg.

Problemet i de forgangne syv år har været, at højre side ikke har haft brug for støtte fra et midterparti, og radikale stemmer er derfor faldet i værdi.

Det problem løser man imidlertid ikke ved at gøre sig til et påhæng til Socialdemokraterne, men ved at få flere stemmer, så man igen bliver tungen på vægtskålen.

Og de to ting hænger jo sammen: Hvorfor skulle folk stemme på DrV, hvis effekten er den samme som ved at stemme på S?

Ammitzbøll så dette klart i modsætning til Vestager, men desværre trak hun det længste strå i deres indbyrdes opgør.

Jeg er i øvrigt også enig med hans kritik af, at den radikale folketingsgruppe er alt for gammel. Desværre bliver det jo kun værre af, at han nu har forladt den.

Jeg håber, Vestager snart bliver væltet som leder, og at nogle af de gamle i gruppen går på pension, og at Ammitzbøll så vender tilbage til partiet.

bookmark_borderMcCain’s irrelevance



Pimp ass Candidates
Originally uploaded by whiskeyboytx

8-9 years ago, when McCain and Bush were fighting it out in the Republican primaries, I was strangely attracted by McCain.

It’s not that I consider myself a Democrat in US terms – I tend to disagree with both parties – but most Republicans are very far from my own political position.

It’s not that I agreed with all he said, but you somehow got the impression he would make up his own mind on issues, even if it meant agreeing with the Democrats instead of his own party.

In the primaries this year he appeared to have changed a bit. He was far too positive of the Iraq war for a start, and singing about bombing Iran made me convinced he is far too relaxed about the human cost of war.

However, I’m sure that one could imagine a Democratic candidate that would make me prefer McCain on his own.

He’s not on his own, though. Afraid that he was losing support amongst the Republican activists, he picked a vicepresidential candidate with the intelligence and curiosity of George W. Bush, and they loved her.

Palin reminds me of Pia Kjærsgaard from the far-right Danish People’s Party. She sounds innocent and down-to-earth, but she has horribly extreme opinions.

Given McCain’s age and health record, she really could become president, and that would be a disaster.

Also, if McCain can really pick a person like her, he must be far more comfortable with the far right than he appears.

So by picking Palin, McCain has ensured that only the party activists are happy, but what was the point then of picking McCain instead of Huckabee?

As a presidential candidate, you can either try to aim for the centre (as Clinton did), or you can try to energise the base (like Dubya). You can’t do both, or you’ll drop both groups of voters.

So in effect, Palin has neutralised McCain’s appeal as surely as a base neutralises an acid.

bookmark_borderBanks in an independent Scotland



Wallace Monument
Originally uploaded by john1710

Lots of unionists seem to see in the problems of Bank of Scotland (HBOS) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) the ultimate proof that Scotland is too small to be independent.

Not all unionists are convinced, however.

Apart from Fraser’s points, it’s worth remembering that independence would have consequences in many unexpected ways, and the size of banks is likely to be one of them.

If Scotland had been independent for the past hundred years, it’s unlikely that BoS and RBS would have grown so big. Other small countries don’t tend to have any banks that large. (Apart from Iceland, that is.)

It might also be that independent Scottish competition authorities would feel obliged to split up the banks as they’re too dominant here.

But even if Scotland was home to the headquarters of massive financial institutions, they probably would have separate structures in Scotland and England, and Scotland would only have to save the Scottish bit.