The day's highlights from the UK:
"The Conservatives are trying to exploit people's fears on immigration and asylum, Tony Blair has claimed in his first campaign speech on the issue.
Speaking in Dover, Mr Blair said concerns about immigration were not about racism but about fairness.
But he accused the Tories of waging a single issue campaign on the issue.
Conservative leader Michael Howard has made immigration one of his key election themes..."
Interesting seeing the same code issue for race playing out in the UK. Maybe, now that they've secured Arizona, we can send the Minuteman Project guys off to guard the white cliffs of Dover, blockade the Chunnel, and keep England safe from the French.
The Conservatives may have some competition on this (National) front:
"Because we so enjoy answering questions about ourselves, hundreds of thousands of voters have done one of these electoral tests and been quite surprised by the results.
'Oh dear, it says here that according to my answers I should be voting for UKIP or the BNP!'
'So what's the problem?'
'Well, I'm supposed to be the leader of the Conservative party.' (This embarrassing internet result comes on top of the Tories' other recent technical problems, when the white hoods were all the wrong size and the burning cross kept going out.)"
The BNP is the British National Party - pretty much the Openly Racist Skinhead Party. I suppose the closest American analogy would be a David Duke type. The BNP was on TV the other night. In the UK parties get free broadcast time which varies depending on how many candidates they have. This was the first time they'd had enough candidates to get air time and there were a fair number of complaints in advance. Since they'll deprive the Tories of a few votes I guess they're doing some good. They're also likely to miss the 5% level and lose 500 pounds each in most contests, so the campaign is also taking money away from racists.
Some things are the same everywhere: "Danny Kruger, who withdrew as the Tory candidate challenging Tony Blair in Sedgefield, has been bitten by a presumably Labour symp-athising dog while canvassing in Harlow. His fingers were nipped as he put a flyer through a letterbox."
Just as good was the Tory candidate earlier this week who doorknocked Blair's father.
Mr Blair Sr was a long-term Tory supporter who had once hoped to become a Conservative MP, but famously joined the Labour Party after his son became leader.
Mr Kawczynski was undeterred. Mr Blair Sr gave him a warm greeting when he answered the door, clutching a volume of Trollope. "I have to ask you if you will vote for the Conservative candidate," said Mr Kawczynski. Mr Blair Sr, who has some difficulty talking after suffering a stroke, gave him an apologetic shrug.
"I’m a great fan of Mr Blair," said the candidate, unconvincingly, of his son. "I, er, like Mr Blair very much as an individual..." He conceded defeat. "I realise you can’t vote for me."
Did Mr Blair Sr have any sage words for the young Tory pup? "Ay," he said. "Vote Labour."
And the Times of London bemoans the decline of the yard sign, which is traditionally a window sign in the UK .
But stay tuned next week: the Lib Dems are getting ready to go after Blair on Iraq:
Charles Kennedy will mount a full-scale attack on the government over the conflict in Iraq next week, hoping that voters' lingering resentment will boost his party as the campaign nears its final stages.
May 5 has already been called the "Basil Fawlty election" on the grounds that no one wants to mention the war.
UK Election
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