It's not the same, I know, but some of the most vocal critics of "Congressional earmarks" (the process in which individual Congressmen divert or add funding from general spending bills to projects serving their constituents) always make sure they get all they can from the process. The idea seems to be "the funding policies are bad, but as long as they remain unchanged why should I penalize my own people solely on a matter of principle that can't be realized?"

Apart from that--Blair LITE? Isn't Blair Europes posterchild for the "New" (read: spineless) Left? The concept of a watered down version of that makes me shudder; how do you water down water? Every day the Third Way looks more like it's lost its way.