OMG, Jeremy Corbyn might win!

Recent polls have put JC ahead in the race to be the new leader of the Labour party, a prospect that has many talking about the death of hope for Labour in any subsequent general election with him at the helm. People have spoken of Michael Foot's disaster in 1983 as being about to be re-enacted. Party stalwarts like Margaret Beckett have voiced their regret at having nominated him to "expand the debate", only to find him now a kind of dreadful Frankenstein's monster now he might actually win. Meanwhile, ultra-left wing militants have been joining up by the drove (allegedly) in order to push the vote through.

But this race will not be decided by the latest incarnation of the "militant tendency" or whatever they call themselves today. It will be decided by Labour party members who have been dismayed by Ed Miliband's woeful performance when it really mattered and who want someone of genuine conviction; someone who really wants to push forward with a new brand of democratic socialism. I note that the nearest equivalent to a Blairite, namely Liz Kendall has all but pulled out of the race due to lack of interest, which is another indicator of the fact that Labour members don't want to go back to a time when it was hard to tell the difference between the policies of Labour and Conservative in all the areas that count.

I don't believe Jeremy Corbyn represents the death of hope to Labour's chances of winning the next election. I believe a lot of people are deeply opposed to austerity in a world where Osborne and his ilk allow rampant capitalism to make a tiny number of people fabulously rich while millions struggle to make ends meet. I believe a lot of people care a great deal more about the environment and stemming the worst effects of global warming than do the Tories. His arguments are thoughtful and well reasoned and could strike a chord with many, even in "middle England"- wherever that is. His arguments are not really that extreme: he doesn't want to nationalize the banks and the utilities- although I can't see how the state could do a worse job than the "we're here to make a profit for the shareholders" lot who currently run them.
You go, Jezza!