Word: backbench
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...parliaments for a ritual rubber stamp. Very occasionally, in Britain or Germany, Japan or France, a politician will make a name for what they do in national legislatures - in Britain, there was a long tradition of leaving socially controversial legislation over matters such as abortion or capital punishment to backbench MPs - but such reputations are most unusual. (See TIME's photos: Mourning Ted Kennedy...
...could be another important factor. It seems unlikely that "the Sunshine Governor," whose popularity and approval ratings have eclipsed even Jeb's (though Crist calls Bush Florida's "greatest governor"), would want to move from the governor's mansion of the nation's new bellwether state to an opposition backbench on Capitol Hill. But Crist's national aspirations were on display this year when John McCain courted him as a possible running mate, and the governor's first term ends, coincidentally, after the 2010 election. Even if Crist decided to run for a second gubernatorial term that year, he would...
...defeat has further spurred ample speculation in the British press about a leadership challenge to Brown from ambitious Labourites. Any open challenge would likely come first as trial balloons from backbench "stalking horse" candidates, who could never win. But if the bidding were open, more prominent party figures, many of whom now argue passionately for unity behind Brown, could enter the ring. Among the names mentioned are David Milliband, the baby-faced but brilliant Foreign Secretary; Ed Balls, the Education Secretary, who was a key Brown operative in the years of covert internecine war against Tony Blair's camp...
...Blair has continually refused to specify when he'll retire. When he reiterated that in an interview last week, however, one of those strange tipping points in politics was galvanized. Without Brown's apparent direction, a slew of backbenchers decided Blair was becoming an electoral liability they could no longer ignore. The Conservatives, under their new telegenic leader David Cameron, were ahead in a recent poll by 9 points, which is shocking to a Labour Party that has been ahead for more than a decade, and many Labour activists are worried about regional elections scheduled for the spring. A Downing...
...That's what happened to the Martin government. Gratuitous insults from the Liberal backbench, the unexpected policy change on missile defense, and Martin's "Blame America" tirades during the election left the Bush White House convinced that Canada's jovial, well-meaning leader was as untrustworthy as his predecessor, Jean Chr?tien. Harper, on the other hand, has based his entire approach to Washington on the proposition that that won't happen on his watch. "What's important in dealing with Americans is the absence of surprise," says Derek Burney, former chief of staff to ex-PM Brian Mulroney. "The last...