Came across as glib and slimy.

And worst of all - he's getting better at it.

The perfect PM (not), like Tony Blair.

Darling, on the other hand, came across as confused but well intentioned.

Hi;

He came across badly. To say that he had no control over "the media" is possibly the worst thing he could have said, even in the context of not being able to stop himself being filmed at home.

AH

I try to look beyond the superficial.

Blair used to win over some of my friends by smiling and appearing sincere. He had a certain charm, but he had nothing much underneath. It's possible that Cameron has a slimy and cocky exterior but will turn out to be a much better PM than his image suggests.

At least he has openly opposed much of the draconian legislation introduced by the present government, as has Nick Clegg. Of course, that doesn't prove either of them will dliver, but we know for a fact that Labour will continue to erode our rights and freedoms. Better to take a chance with someone who might make a positive change than to just give in to dictatorship.

I don't personally like Cameron but, at the moment, he is our best hope. I'll vote Conservative purely because I know that they have the strongest chance of beating Labour, and that a fragmented opposition vote will just result in more years of guaranteed oppression and injustice.

I almost wept the day John Smith died.

And then I thought a true hero had come along-Tony Blair.

It's rare for me to be taken in.I've prided myself on an uncanny ability to perceive a person's true character on first meet.

Rarely have I been wrong..but I got Blair completely and uterley wrong.

Shake on that Veritas. I met Blair when he was Shadow Home Secretary and thought "here is our saviour". Boy, were we wrong!

I wasn't fooled for a minute. Thankfully.

I was taken in as well. I cant believe how bad Blair actually was once he got into power. It was like he changed completely and became incapable of telling the truth.

What worries me about BLAIR is that he could end up President of EU - and with the Lisbon Treaty transferring loads of power to the EU ( Which we dont have a referendum about despite being promised one by Brown ) - BLAIR will once again be running the country - not CAMERON even if he wins the election.

Regardless of what people think of CAMERON as a person - and after getting BLAIR so badly wrong I have no opinion on CAMERON - I think we should vote CONSERVATIVE on two major things :

1. ID CARDS and BIG BROTHER STATE - The Tories will not spend 15 billion on ID Cards. That for me is the one single issue that is most important. Labour is pressing ahead with it regardless.

2. BROWN is clueless about everything except the economy. He has no vision - no ideas - and no political presence and every day he is Prime Minister the country goes downhill even further in the eyes of the World. At least CAMERON would be presentable ( As would Nick Clegg ) as a leader. BROWN is not.


Therefore, voting in New Labour for yet another 5 years is not an option. Give CAMERON a chance and then in 5 years time if he has been rubbish as well vote him out and vote Liberal.

Honesty in politics is not a sucessful virtue.The best we may hope for is for a pm who lies a bit less than the rest.

Those who think Cameron will be much better are mistaken.He's not got a principled plan to reduce the powers of the police and quangos etc.He may well tinker at the edges,for cosmetic value mostly,but overall those faceless mandarins will think up new ways to reduce our freedoms,and how we can defend our freedom in court etc.

BR wrote:BROWN is clueless about everything except the economy. [/quote]

I must correct you there. Brown is also clueless about the economy. He did not start this world recession, but it is down to him that the UK was/is in such a poor state to handle it. Due to his mismanagement of the economy we have no reserves to fall back on. Our cupboard is bare. Brown borrowed excessively and we are in very serious debt.

Clueless and incompetent.

So what's your suggestion, IA? Do we continue to vote for the current mob or do we sit on our backsides and not even make an attempt to change things. If we just resign ourselves to losing our freedoms then we will. Cameron might only be a lesser evil, but lesser, in this case, is better, imho.

My suggestion is to protest vote.Even if you don't want those people in,it will have the effect of waking up the current crop.
You have everything from the greens,to the Commies,to the BNP,and don't forget all those inbetween.
you'll be surprised how quickly the politicians will act if they think the gravy train is in danger.

Protest votes are ok for a by-election. The problem with doing that in a general election is that you split the opposition vote and you allow the ruling party to remain in office. Labour voters are notoriously stubborn and will turn out to vote despite the performance of their party. Only by uniting behind the best of the alternatives can we hope to see an end to this regime.

Politicians know they have at least another five years to "act", and they can do much damage in that time.