Learning from the master: the LibDems4Cameron website
It wasn't long after David Cameron's election to the Tory leadership that comparisons were being drawn between the fresh-faced youngster with the Eton and Oxford education and the slightly craggier Yale man across the pond, George Bush. Cameron's claim to be a compassionate Conservative, his sweet-talking, man-of-the-people style, and the general slickness of his campaigning were all reminiscent of Bush back in 2000. His syntax might be better, but Cameron has clearly learned from the master.
It's the same story online, too. When there were votes still to be won, Bush positioned himself as a "uniter". While he did everything he could to appease his rightwing fanbase, he also knew that there was a lot of central ground out there to be won. Cameron knows that's where he needs to win people over, too. Hence the new Conservative website, libdems4cameron.com, which is eerily reminiscent of the infamous (and now defunct) democrats4bush.com, which played a part in putting out the message that Bush was the kind of man that liberals could vote for.
The new Tory website is a slightly creepy place, attempting to target those Lib Dem voters who might be persuaded that the old "scary" Conservative party has morphed into a touchy-feely little teddy bear, whose favourite topics of conversation are public services, global poverty and social justice. As the site asks, "Why not support a party that believes in green politics, social justice and localism?" A fine question, but is the answer to be found in voting for the Tories, even in their modern, green incarnation?
As Bush's victories have shown, it's one thing to talk about unifying the country before you've been elected, quite another to actually carry it through.
