http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour2005/...rticle_continue

Balls cites Gore to warn of handover risks

Matthew Tempest in Brighton
Monday September 26, 2005


One of Gordon Brown's closest confidantes last night held up the example of the "disaster" of the Clinton-Gore transition as a warning of what could go wrong for Labour when Tony Blair steps down.
Ed Balls, newly elected MP for Normanton, but better known as Mr Brown's former economic advisor and right hand man, told a party fringe "there has never been a successful transition [of leader] in power."

And he told the Fabian fringe the party would face a "terrible temptation to look backwards" when the time for a changeover came.

His words of warning came after a weekend which saw a queue of ostensibly Blairite cabinet ministers - such as Tessa Jowell and David Blunkett - endorse the chancellor as the only possible successor to the PM.
Ms Jowell suggested no leadership election might be necessary, calling it a "waste of time and a waste of energy".

Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, added: "Everybody knows it will be, barring terrible accident, Gordon Brown who takes over."

Meanwhile David Blunkett, the work and pensions secretary, said it was "blindingly obvious" that Mr Brown would take over. At last night's Fabian Society fringe, Mr Balls warned against assuming things would be so straightforward.

He said: "There has never been a successful transition in power".

He pointed to the traumatic replacement of Harold Wilson by Jim Callaghan - after which Labour lost the 1979 election and suffered 18 years in opposition - and the overthrow of Mrs Thatcher by her party, which he said was still "unfinished business", referring to the Tories' five leaders in eight years and current leadership battles.

Mr Balls said the attempted handover in 2000 from US President Clinton to his deputy, Al Gore, was a disaster.

He told a Fabian fringe meeting: "There's a terrible temptation to look backwards, not forwards. To have debates, not unity of purpose.

"There are big, transitional challenges on the policy agenda - understanding poverty, China, India - and we need to face them in an open, forward-looking and unified way.

"It [the transition] needs to be orderly and respect the party."

One gets the feeling that Mr. Balls (can't help but laugh at that name) doesn't exactly understand American politics. :?:

I think he is thinking of the games the clinton people played with the keyboards and phones while handing it off to BUSH in 2000.

Sigh, never got the chance to handoff to Al.

This is kind of confusing - balls, fringe, and power handoffs? There wasn't a power hand-off, Al Gore decided to run - if he didn't (we're all glad he did :D), someone else in the party would have - what's he suggesting, that the Democrats just not try and say "meh, we've had our 8 years, let's hand it over to Greedy Old Party (GOP) Corporatists - and let them undo 8 years of progress"

The disaster that came out of 2000 wasn't Al Gore - he's a source of hope - and more importantly competence!

Here's the actual disaster of 2000:

I'm confused, can you explain a little clearer please? thanks. :)

Precisely, G.S., which is why I said this Mr. Balls doesn't seem to have a grasp on how our system of gov't works.

The disasters that came out of 2000 was Bush stealing the election.

When Clinton and staff left the White House, didn't he play some little practical jokes on the Bush staff---they took the W's out of the keyboard, and other "childish" pranks like that.

Maybe that is what he meant? Clinton and Gore's people were bitter at the theft?

Although Blair is going to hand it off to his own party.

I don't know. It doesn't make much sense.