Meet Ed Miliband, leader of Britain's Labour Party. He appeared on the BBC yesterday to comment on the anti-austerity protests and government-sector strikes that are roiling his country (sound familiar?). Granted, Miliband is in a tough spot: As the Labour leader, he has to tread a fine line of supporting his party's base while chastising strikers for possibly undermining ongoing negotiations. He also has to find a way to parlay the crisis into a broader attack against "the government" (i.e., David Cameron's conservative majority). It seems he and his spin-meisters settled on a message. The question is, can you spot that message? "Scripted" doesn't quite seem sufficient to describe this talking points exhibition:
Ok, last question, Mr. Miliband: Are the strikes wrong at a time that negotiations are still going on, and has the government failed parents and the public by acting in a reckless and provocative manner? Good grief. What this guy needs is a heaping helping of Chris Christie. Watch as the New Jersey Governor blows the lid off of Democrats' class-warfare scare tactics. Look, ma, no script:
"You let them in your pocket for one second, and they're going to keep grabbing for more and more. That's the way it works. So I'm not letting my foot off the throat of that for a second."