The Poodle is coming to meet his master on Thursday

Lucky you...The Poodle is coming your way.

What do people in the US think of Tony Blair these days? I love mentioning his name over here because it's always a guaranteed wild discussion. I think that many here in France respect what he has done in the UK from an economic perspective, mostly keeping the economy moving along at a better rate than the eurozone, but they really detest his love affair with Bush and his encouragement of war in Iraq.

The center-left in France sometimes likes to think that they can generate a "New Labour-ish" candidate and right this troubled ship but at this point in time, I just don't see it.

UK Labour struggled through some pretty lean years for a long time before New Labour took root. The French Socialists have enjoyed enough (limited) success in recent years to give the image of a party that has a fighting chance, so they just don't seem ready to fully embrace a New Labour platform. Something needs to be done but if the cost of reform is an oily tick like Blair, I'm not sure it's worth it.