Two men of character, but only one is lucky in his choice of enemies

JIM McDAID has character. Perhaps not every ingredient that goes into that elusive characteristic, but he has a lot.

We’ll deal with the qualities he has and those he is missing in a minute. But in my definition of political character, one of the things that rounds off a politician is luck. And one of the reasons Jim McDaid is in the position he is in this week is because he has been very unlucky, particularly in his choice of political bosses.

Tony Blair has character, too. Unlike McDaid, however, he has been lucky, especially in his choice of political enemies.