Labour ? The Democrats

Larison counters Michael Barone who argues that "left parties are in trouble in the Anglosphere":

It is...important to distinguish between the fates of Labour and the Democrats. New Labour has been in power uninterruptedly for thirteen years. The Democrats have only been in the majority in Congress for three years, and have had unified control of government for a little more than a year. Brown’s government is responsible or is being held solely responsible for Britain’s fiscal and financial woes, to which Brown contributed as Chancellor under Blair, and Labour cannot pin any of this on its political opponents. Labour could have called and then likely won a general election after Brown assumed the leadership in 2007. Had he done so then, Brown would not be in his current predicament. This is first and foremost evidence of the failure of Brown’s political leadership. What Barone cannot really show is that Labour is suffering politically today because of a lack of “third way” political positioning or a lack of “centrism.” Were Blair still leading his party into another general election this year, there could be no question that the electorate was rejecting a relatively “centrist” Labour government.