Interview: Dennis Skinner
So who is going to win tonight?
Obama. He’s a first class candidate, and I’ve got no doubt at all he’s going be the next president. From an organisational point of view his team knew what they were up to early on.
What makes Barack Obama better than John McCain?
Most of the American victors over the last forty odd years have, by and large, spoken in generalities. I’m never that taken with this ‘change’ language. It’s a bit abstract. But he has said important stuff in relation to healthcare and taxation, which has been fairly specific in relation to an American contender.
You say things in elections of a general abstract kind and it attracts attention. Most people do that. But you have to look out for the small print. Whereas McCain sticks to things that aren’t precise, Obama has indicated what a new regime would be like on those two issues.
Won’t Obama follow a protectionist agenda?
I’m not particularly concerned about him being protectionist. It’s one thing to give the impression he might be, but in this great big global economy of ours that’s taken such a shake I can understand the background in which it’s said.
The truth is, in many ways America is not much different from the European Union, in which a lot of ideas are pushed forward but we know in practise it’s a different thing altogether. It’s not so easy to take a national standpoint and carry it through to the bitter end. I understand where it’s coming from but I don’t see it as one of those areas which is precise in its meaning.
What do you make of Sarah Palin?
It was a mistake. The idea was for her to satisfy the ring wing – people like Karl Rove. They told McCain that if you want our support, we want her to try and buoy up the right-wing Republican side. So she had to go for a few seminars in order to match up to a half-decent presidential candidate and I don’t think she’s measured up. Many Republicans have said – ‘just admit it, we’re not buying this’.
Will an Obama presidency let-down the Left?
In politics you don’t get perfection. There are no perfect candidates. There are no perfect estate agents, or perfect people running banks. There are no perfect people. So why do people always say those in politics must be perfect?
When you vote in elections- almost without exception – you vote for least worst candidate. But you judge people by what they do and not what they say. In four years time they’ll be judging Obama by what he’s done.
The only place for perfection is in the cemetery. You get perfect peace there. But we’re all made of clay. I take left wing positions, but I’m not naive enough to believe everything we say and do is perfect.
Dennis Skinner, Labour MP for Bolsover, was talking to Ian Dunt
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