David Orland has post-election analysis on the immigration angle.

Paul Mirengoff at Power Line has a different view.

Spiked Online’s Mick Hume writes:

The dismal turnout figures are the most obvious reflection of this problem. Despite all the party tricks and postal votes offered to induce us to put a cross in a box, around four out of 10 voters declined to do so – getting on for twice as many as voted for New Labour. But as in 2001, if anything these grim statistics underestimate the scale of public alienation from the political class. What has to be understood is that many of those who did vote are just as disengaged as those who did not.

The response of many politicians to this problem is essentially to blame voters for being too apathetic or unintelligent to understand the issues. They seem increasingly to fear and disdain the electorate, especially the white working class whom many appear to view with contempt as a racist pogrom waiting to happen. Just after the polls had closed on election night, but before a single result had been announced, government minister Margaret Beckett was the first to come out and blame ‘the immigration issue’ for losing Labour votes among the ignorant masses.

David Frum:

Blair has shown great courage on foreign policy – and that of course is the sin for which the British Left wishes to punish him. Now he will need that courage to fight the good fight for his ideals and principles, this time not against a foreign enemy, but against the worst elements in his party. I’ve been joking for years that for all Blair’s faults, he has one great virtue: probably nobody in British public life hates the British Left more than he does. Certainly there is nobody more viciously hated by the British Left than Tony Blair. The battle is joined. A lot turns on the outcome – for Britain, for America, for the world.

Update: David Orland responds to Power Line.

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