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About LinkBacksWe'll leave it to others to judge, shall we?Originally Posted by setanta
We'll leave it to others to judge, shall we?
"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest." Mark Twain
“When a government is dependent upon bankers for money, they and not the leaders of the government control the situation, since the hand that gives is above the hand that takes. Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain.” Napoléon Bonaparte
The upward trend in Labour support in the polls demonstrates a significant rise in the year since Gilmore became party leader. From a low of some 10% at the last GE, Labour are consistently hitting 14-15% and if the Indo is to be believed (yeah, I know!) have scored 18%.
Gilmore is no "dullard", knows precisely what he's doing and if you took the time to reflect on his statements you'd understand why.
Gilmore is arguably the most ambitious leader that Labour has had since Dick Spring. His intention is that Labour will become the second largest party in Dáil Éireann during his leadership. Now that sort of ambition takes some cojones, but also requires a lot of smarts - qualities that Gilmore has in abundance.
One of the major problems that Labour has in breaking out of the third spot is the general perception that people have that Labour is forever to be the third wheel of Irish politics resigned to junior partnership in coalition governments. This is most often demonstrated in the lazy journalism that plagues Irish political reporting which cannot get past repeated questions about who Labour will rule in or rule out as a coalition partner after a future general election. Cooper's line of questioning is just another example of this.
Gilmore's response is to say that Labour is fighting on its own policy platform and in its own right as an independent political party. Issues as to who we might go into government with are matters for after the next General Election when the people's decisions as to who will represent them in the Dáil are known. In the meantime, Gilmore is focussing on the issues that are of immediate concern to the people we seek to represent. Matt Cooper and other lazy and utterly predictable journos might want to talk about coalition partners. Labour, on the other hand, will talk about the economy.
Last edited by setanta; 13th January 2009 at 11:26 AM.
Fine Vague have a much bigger problem than whether Labour commits to going into government with them prior to a GE. This problem comes from Mayo, talks into his chest and has been neither seen nor heard from over the last few weeks other than the occasional outing when he mutters something about paper-folding or shopping in Tesco or something.
The momentum is clearly with Eamon Gilmore and the Labour Party. FG are being outflanked by Labour on the economy. And His Vagueness, Inda Kinny, has been left all at sea by both Bruton and Burton.
Every election, Labour has two options. It either enters into a pre-election deal, with one of two larger parties, or it doesn't. Last time it it did a deal with FG, this time there will be no deal, and the various options will be examined in the wake of the next election. I don't understand why people find that confusing.
the momentum is towards oblivion. All they ever do is Grandstand, and the media keep calling them on it. "We are the opposition, so we don't have to tell you what we would do" is being heard by the punter in the stree as "We are the opposition and we always will be".
Hardly.FG are being outflanked by Labour on the economy. And His Vagueness, Inda Kinny, has been left all at sea by both Bruton and Burton.
All we have heard from Labour is that we should solve our problem of over-indebtedness by becoming more indebted (with most of the additional debt going to pay the salaries of SIPTU membes).
Totally bonkers!
"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest." Mark Twain
“When a government is dependent upon bankers for money, they and not the leaders of the government control the situation, since the hand that gives is above the hand that takes. Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain.” Napoléon Bonaparte
It is true that E Kenny is not the most charasmatic of leaders. However he has settled for this, as . Regarding Bruton speaking on economic matters, that is exactly his remit. E. Gilmore has assumed the same for Labour, as regards speaking into his chest. well , I would rather discuss policy matters, than decend into personal insults.
E Gilmore is indeed a fine orator, however he must know when to stop. as he is begining to belive his own press.. lately the more he speaks, the more debatable are his policies or lack of policy.
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