The TaxPayers’ Alliance has hit another home-run with their latest report which tears apart Labour’s claims to economic confidence; and before any yells foul it should be borne in mind that TPA have compiled their report using official statistics and international comparisons. 

Of course it wouldn’t be the TPA if they hadn’t come up with an inventive way of grabbing people’s attention to make their point.  With that in mind, behold the Brown Calculator:

On the face of it Brown has just received a well needed boost of support from members of the cabinet, but as ever in politics, all may not be as it appears.  With all that we know about disintegration within the Parliamentary Labour Party - disintegration that equally affects the cabinet - is it more likely that the current statements eminating from ministers is a display of support for:

Gordon Brown:

Or, David Miliband:

I know where I’d put my money. 

I’ll be at the Adam Smith Institute this evening from 6 where I’ll be speaking about Total Politics at around 7.  So if you’re in the area why not pop in (although you’ll need to RSVP first).

Before that though I need to decide what to say.  Got any good jokes? 

That mischievous Bear has somehow got his hands on some video editing equipment:

I’ll be doing Sky.com/news tonight at 7 discussing the ‘Movers’; as ever there are some great stories!  But why am I doing it at 7 rather than the usual 7.30?  Because thanks to its popularity it’s been moved up the schedule (congratulations to the team behind the show who’ve turned into an absolute must watch (and an award winning must watch at that!)). 

Oh, it has a new name as well SkyNews.com.  So why not tune in and see what all the fuss is about! 

Ok, so this post is a little late; but in fairness I had to choose between blogging and relaxing in the Florida sunshine!  I decided to watch the McCain speech with the College Republicans at Florida State University; aside from anything else I wanted to get a feel for how staunch party loyalists would react to it. 

Needless to say McCain’s speech wasn’t very well delivered, but then nobody expected it to be; McCain has always been a terrible public speaker, unable to convey sincerity.  But even with that taken into account the speech was terrible, nothing new being said, nothing to really motivate the base, and nothing to match Obama in terms of appeal to the centre.  Indeed so bad was the speech that within minutes of in starting almost every member of the college republicans sitting at the tables in front of the TV starting talking amongst themselves, paying next to no attention to the proceedings on screen. 

Only at one point did the speech stand out, with the assembled audience of College Republicans paying attention; when McCain told the story of his time as a POW.  The narrative was strong, and in that moment McCain sounded like a man destined to be president of the United States. 

All told the speech hasn’t done McCain any favours, but then it hasn’t done Obama any favours either; in poll after poll we see a statistical tie.  The long and short of it is that this race is going to be tight, and it’s anyone’s to win.  But if McCain wants to give himself the edge, he needs to learn how to motivate his base. 

Just got an email from a friend linking me to a page on the Royal website about Swan Upping?  What is Swan Upping and why is it relevant to politics?  Well, dealing with the second part of the question first it has absolutely no relevance to politics; it just amuses me (which brings me to what it is).  Basically it’s a bunch of blokes, dressed in silly clothes, running around in rowing boats on the Thames capturing Swans to count them.  Why?  Why the hell not. 

We’re a funny people:

Right, back to politics. 

Ok, we all know I’m not the most consistent of bloggers (although this is something I hope to change when I get back from holiday), but for everyone who nevertheless voted for me in the Total Politics blogging poll I just wanted to say a big thank you; I was ranked 38th overall and 22nd in the Right of Centre blogs. 

So once again, a big thank you to all my readers.  I guess this means I should start blogging every day. 

You can purchase a copy of the 2008-2009 Guide to Political Blogging by going here.  And if you do you’ll get to read the chapter I wrote ‘A Guide to the Centre Right Blogosphere’. 

Let’s be frank, Obama’s speech last night was phenomenal.  But not in the usual way.  Obama is a great orator, so for him to deliver a technically excellent speech is nothing out of the ordinary, but what set the speech apart was clear the message that Obama is not the usual kind of Democrat campaigner.  Obama took the opportunity to send a strong signal to the Republicans that he would not fall victim to the standard Republican campaign.  What campaign?  The one that brands democratic candidates as unpatriotic, weak, and immoral. 

He made clear that he was not afraid to tackle the divisive issues that Democratic candidates usually avoid like the plague; abortion, gay rights, and the right to bear arms. 

And perhaps most importantly of all Obama showed that he can take the fight to the Republicans on their territory, adopting their language to make his own arguments; personal responsibility and low tax are no longer the private reserve of Republicans. 

Has this speech sealed the election for Obama?  Not at all.  But it makes clear just how tough an opponent he’s going to be for McCain. 

Want to know how to tell which presidential candidate is going to win the election?  Apparently all you need to do is look at the number of masks of each candidate that are sold by BuyCostumes.com:

The big question is who’s doing better at the moment; Obama or McCain?

[Hat tip: Matthew Richardson]