Campbell’s joke was no laughing matter then, and it’s even less funny today. When Blair ad–dresses a joint session of Congress this week, Americans will see one Blair–and Britons another. Americans, including some who aren’t Bush fans, lionize Blair for his loyalty since 9-11 and for his articulate arguments in favor of invading Iraq. Later this year he’s expected to become the first Briton since Winston Churchill to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. A New York Times op-ed headline last week–in blair we trust–is typical of the adulation. At home, however, Blair’s in trouble. As the war grinds on, with British soldiers being killed at the rate of one a week, and as weapons of mass destruction fail to appear, his poll ratings have tumbled to their lowest point since he took office in 1997. The Times of Lon-don concluded last week that “more than half of voters would not trust [Blair] further than they could throw him.”
Blair will almost certainly weather this political storm, but he will not be unscathed. As a source close to Blair acknowledged to NEWSWEEK, his advisers are “deeply worried about the trust gap” because it erodes his credibility not just on Iraq, but on domestic issues ranging from public-service reforms to Britain’s decision to someday adopt Europe’s single currency. As for Blair’s friends in the White House, perhaps the next time they invite him to Camp David, they’ll think twice about bunking him in the cabin called Dogwood as they did last March. Blair could do without the canine allusion.
