16 March 2009

Cameron needs the press on side

Bagehot has taken a shot at the pundits (Parris and Rawnsley specifically) who took a poke at Cameron at the weekend:

All the same, I wonder whether this latest round of Cameron question marks is at least partly motivated by boredom among the press and perhaps their readers with the long-running sagas of "the death of capitalism" and "the tragedy of Gordon Brown".

When columnists call for answers from politicians, what they sometimes really mean is that they don't like the answers they've already got—either because they disagree with them or because they are not controversial enough to create interesting copy (which is true of some of the Tories' unexceptionable public-service proposals). Moreover, even if Mr Cameron gave a more detailed outline of his foreign policy—beyond his avowed euroscepticism—it would be surprising is his ideas survived first contact with an international emergency, if and probably when he makes it to Number 10. And it seems to me highly unlikely that, however desirable it might seem, the Tories will be as explicit about their spending plans and possible cuts as some are urging, at least before the election.

Agreed.

The danger for Cameron is the pundits will keep at it and stir up trouble.  As Bagehot says, the press are bored with Brown. 

Cameron needs to nail this issue with the dead tree press.

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2 comments:

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  2. Cameron plays it too safe, he needs a couple of controversial policies to stir the electorate! Politics is about showmanship as well as politics these days. Gordon still mixes with celebs.. perhaps Cameron should try "opposing" stupid policies once in a while!

    Sorry, cock up on the first comment :)

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