Sunday 11 November 2012

What can the UK learn from the 2012 US election

What can the UK learn from the 2012 US election

Both the Conservatives and Labour have said that the election result in the US is good for them but what does it mean for the UK?  The Conservatives say the result shows sticking to your guns on the economy is why Obama won, Labour has said he won because he is progressive and is in touch with the general public (like they say they are).  But does the election in the US bode well for Labour, the Conservatives or neither.
Labour think the result if it bodes well for any party it is them, as Obama is on the left and he understands the new America unlike those Republicans who are just to scary and out of touch.  In one way Labour have a good point our population like America is very varied we have many immigrants lots of different religions, lots of young people but unlike in America our Conservative party is not seen to be as radical as the Republicans and also have support among women.  The Conservatives do have a problem getting the votes of ethnic minorities but at the moment the Conservatives won't see this as a big problem for two reasons, one they are one of the groups least likely to vote and two they are mainly concentrated in the inner cities were the Conservatives never win anyway.

I think it is the Republicans who need to look at Britain rather than the UK parties looking at America, After the 79 election Labour made the mistake of lurching to the left and they were kept out of power for a generation.  The Conservatives also did something similar after the 97 election were infighting and indecision also prevented them from returning to number 10 for over a decade.  The Republicans could potential suffer the same problem as the Conservatives as they try to find their footing for the next election or they could make the same mistake as Labour by misreading the public and lurch to the right.
To end I would like to say if any UK party could learn from the US election it is the Conservatives. They need to look at the Republican party and how the infighting between the tea party and more moderate Republicans made it difficult for Romney to come across as trustworthy, as he had to say one thing in the primaries to pander to the right and another thing in the election to pander to the wider population.  The Conservatives need to look at this and make sure they are united at the next election on the how to deal with the economy and Europe or they could clinch defeat from the jaws of victory.

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