After Blair: Successor seems suited to fill shoes After Blair: Successor seems suited to fill shoes
The Oklahoman Editorial
Published: May 22, 2007
TONY Blair's farewell visit to Washington last week brought home the reality that a remarkable political leader and great friend to America in the terror age is about to leave the world stage. The British prime minister and President Bush talked some business but mostly it was a chance to renew a relationship made close by 9/11 and their partnership in Iraq.
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Bush called Blair courageous, and the prime minister, whose ties to Bush have cost him in British polls, refused to second-guess the course he chose. "You don't win those battles by being hesitant or by withdrawing support for each other when the going gets tough,” Blair said.
Indeed, his tough-minded, principled commitment to join the United States in the battle over the "type of values that govern the world” will be his legacy with Americans, as well as the context in which to judge his successor — virtually certain to be current Finance Minister Gordon Brown.
Brown is described as economically conservative by British standards, committed to holding down public spending and tax rates. Environmentally, Brown prefers incentives to lessen global warming rather than measures like a carbon tax.
Yet Brown's relationship with America will be assessed in light of the continued partnership in Iraq and more broadly in coping with the forces of terror.
Understanding the British public's turn against Blair over Iraq, Brown will seek a course that shows some contrast — although he backed the decision to intervene there and hasn't retreated from it.
While Brown probably won't be as warm personally to Bush as Blair, the relationship between the countries will stay close. Brown has said anti-Americanism is a mistake.
Brown has huge shoes to fill, but it appears he's philosophically and temperamentally well-suited to help maintain the unique and vital friendship between Britain and the United States.
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