My posting has been a little sporadic of late but that doesn’t mean I’ve not been blogging, I’ve just not been blogging here. Another blog for the Power of Information Task Force (also on WordPress at my request) has instead been keeping me rather busy. Will try to revert to multi-tasking soon.
Phew, Obama gained a solid victory. Nice one. Having watched the news for far too long at the expense of sleep I don’t think I can sensibly write any more. Nuff to say this is the sort of thing that makes politics worthwhile.
A commonly repeated quote in UK politics is Roy Jenkins‘ description of Blair’s approach to the 1997 election as being like an elderly butler carrying a Ming vase across a slippery floor from one end of a room to the other.
Reading the coverage of the US elections today, this seems to be very much how the Democrats are currently feeling - excited that their precious cargo is nearly delivered yet dreading some last minute slip and crash.
And as I have watched Obama over recent months, similarities with Tony Blair have struck me more and more.
Putting aside any issues of policy or personal preference, the fact remains that Blair was a superb political performer.
He far outclassed virtually everyone he was up against in terms of sheer professionalism and ability to stick to his message. He had that teflon quality which meant that things rarely stuck no matter how much hostility was thrown at him. And at times he could also touch people emotionally which made him hugely persuasive.
We can all have views on whether such qualities have been used and, in the case of Obama will be used, for good or ill. But we would be foolish not to recognise them when they stare us in the face.
My successor in Sheffield Hallam, Nick Clegg MP, has been building his web presence recently with the launch of his WordPress site nickclegg.com.
He is now looking for a web officer to build this up in the run-up to the next general election.
Everyone is naturally going to be talking about the Obama online campaign over coming months, especially if he wins, as it has been both impressive and apparently effective (at least in terms of fund-raising).
The modest challenge for this post is to have a similar impact with virtually no resources and starting from a third party position - now who could resist that?
Liberal Democrat Leader’s Office
Web OfficerSalary: Negotiable subject to experience
The Westminster Office of the Leader of the Liberal Democrats - Nick Clegg MP - is looking for a dedicated Web Officer to manage the Leader’s web site, who will work closely with the Party’s Media Team to deliver a unified web communication strategy for the Party.
The person selected will be responsible for developing and updating the Leader’s Website, producing video online and promoting the work of Nick Clegg MP.
The post needs good political judgement combined with key web development skills and a willingness to work flexibly in a highly motivated team.
We have allocated a budget of up to £28,000 per annum for this function. We will consider traditional full-time and part-time salaried proposals depending on skills and experience, as well as other arrangements such as carrying out the work on a contract basis.
* Download application pack
* Download job description and person specification
* Download diversity monitoring questionnairePlease apply by email attaching a CV and covering letter outlining suitability for the post to Emma Peall: emma.peall@libdems.org.uk
Deadline for applications: Friday 7th November 2008.
I was expressing bewilderment to a friend that the front pages of our newspapers have been dominated all week by a story about a pair of radio and TV performers at a time of momentous events for the world economy.
Wiser than me, he pointed out that it is precisely because of the momentous events that the inconsequential story is running so strongly. After a couple of weeks of relentless, detailed, depressing news about the financial crisis, there was a need to shift to something light and gossipy and the Brand/Ross story perfectly fitted the bill after a bit of warm up from Mandelson/Osborne.
All this is now nicely set up to finish in time for the big news of the US Presidential election on Tuesday 4th of November.
It’s rather like a daily TV schedule stretched over a couple of weeks - we’ve had Panorama on the economy, followed by some New Statesman like political comedy, are now watching Big Brother, and can look forward to the West Wing next week.
Being an experienced and somewhat cynical politician I have been habitually challenging the notion that Barack Obama will win the US Presidential election.
I could cite a dozen reasons why his campaign would be derailed by the Republican machine turning the hope of his supporters into bitter disappointment.
But with one week to go, and not tempting fate and all that, all the signs tell me that he is going to win, and win big.
His campaign has stayed doggedly on message, his opponents are all over the place, and he has a phenomenal campaign organisation.
As well as good poll numbers, which do have a margin of error, the anecdotal evidence of the excitement his campaign has generated tells us he will get a good turnout.
There is also a ‘winner factor’ in elections. People do like to get out and cast their vote for a winning candidate so they can claim their stake in the victory, whilst those backing a clear loser have little incentive to mobilise.
How exciting. Almost enough for me to cast aside my grumpiness about having to spend so much time following the US elections 
(as with much UK-US resentment this is in large part a reflection of our envy at the US being more important than us).
I am often provoked to making grumpy comments about rail travel in the UK. You can pick and mix the issues for any journey from the expense, the overcrowding, the ticket machines etc.
In order to avoid the expense problem I decided to be smart and book ahead for a journey next week.
I tried this first with the Qjump site that I’ve used before. I put in all the details and then got to the last bit when they asked me for 50p to collect my ticket from a machine at the station.
Now what’s this all about? I do all the work here. I pick the train, I select from a smorgasbord of ticket options, I use my debit card and I collect my own ticket. And they want me to pay extra for the privilege?
Charging for special postal delivery I could understand. But for machine collection, no way.
So, I went to the East Midlands Trains site and booked all the same tickets using a system which I think is powered by the same engine with no collection fee.
East Midlands trains deserve a link for their booking facility (even if their train service is actually a bit rubbish but that’s another story), Qjump do not.
Oh dear, Sarah Silverman just blew her debut gig in the UK according to this Guardian review and the many comments from her audience attached to it.
I wasn’t there but some good friends were and report the accuracy of the review’s criticisms. Time to cross her off my Christmas card list in solidarity with the disappointed.
And I also realise that I failed to show political balance as my earlier references all appear to be Democrat-leaning.
All my terrestrial TV options seem to be of the same bent. And I don’t have this new-fangled satellite television marvel that is Sky but my (perhaps formerly) Silverman-loving friends do.
So in the name of balance I will make efforts to avail myself of their multi-channel environment to catch some episodes of Fox News as I understand this is like a Republican-leaning Daily Show, only better because it is runs continuously 24 hours a day.
I mostly watch UK comedy but have been really enjoying a lot of the output from the US Presidential election.
The Daily Show at 8-30pm on More4 is now a regular fixture.
I find myself having to watch the Palin/Clinton clip from Saturday Night Live on a daily basis.
And for those with a tolerance of expletives (distinct parental advisory here) Sarah Silverman’s Great Schlep is a good watch.
It is being reported in the media that Peter Mandelson allegedly made negative comments about Gordon Brown to a ’senior Conservative’ during a chance dinner while they were (separately) on holiday. This has been fleshed out by the Guardian with the suggestion that George Osbourne was the senior Conservative in question and the venue was Corfu.
In itself, this is just Westminster tittle-tattle supporting the popular view that all politicians are deceptive and untrustworthy. But it does also highlight a problem politicians have at a human level of who they can trust as they go about their business.
It is impossible to be on your guard all the time about every word you say in case it is used against you. Most of the time, most MPs can work on the assumption that they can trust people they are speaking with to keep conversations private, even when talking to MPs of other parties.
When you spend a lot of time with people and have more in common with them than differences (party label aside) you naturally talk about personal issues, hopes, fears etc. You have a reasonable expectation that this sharing of confidences will not be used against you, and for the most part it is not.
I can only remember one occasion where a political colleague used information from a private conversation against me in public. I felt I could never speak openly with them again which went against all my natural instincts. Any temporary advantage gained from using gossip to score a political point is likely to be far outweighed by the damage caused by the breach of confidence.