It must be the water they drink

Do politicians drink water? Is there some special water that is sent round just to politicians, for the attention of? That is what it looks like, I must say.

Take the Conservative Party and its leader the Boy-King (well, OK, I'll take him temporarily). It is perfectly obvious to all and sundry that his personal popularity started plummeting around last November when he reneged on his "cast-iron guarantee" for a referendum on the Constitutional Lisbon Treaty. Yet, all one hears from the self-same Boy-King, his acolytes (of whom there are ever fewer) and other Conservative activists is the same old mantra: the Lisbon Treaty does not matter, people don't care about Europe (I'll blog Hague's speech separately), we are the party to renew faith in politicians' honesty (an oxymoron if ever there was one). Are they listening to themselves?

Similarly, it is obvious to all and sundry that personal attacks on Gordon Brown not only do not work but are, actually, counter-productive. The electorate will listen to attacks on his record as Chancellor or as Prime Minister but finds attacks on him as a man distasteful. It takes some kind of a political genius to make Gordon Brown an object of sympathy but the Conservative strategists have managed it. And yet they continue to attack him manners, his clothes, his behaviour, even his looks. Are they listening to themselves?

It seems that things are no different over the Pond (as if we didn't know). Here is a posting from Glenn Reynolds, which he entitles A CRACK SUICIDE SQUAD FROM THE JUDEAN PEOPLE’S FRONT. He links to an article on Hot Air, which tells us:

Barack Obama hits the campaign trail again this month in support of a tremendously unpopular ObamaCare bill — and his numbers have started nose-diving again.

Any connection there, one wonders. Apparently, yes or, at least, maybe. Another link to Riehl indicates that Obama's arrogance is seen as the problem. In other words, maybe he ought not assume that if HE hits the trail all will be well because that has been counter-productive so far. Apparently, this simple equation has not penetrated the consciousness of Obama's gifted strategists.

It must be the water.