Big up the Blair [lurks]

I don't really want to get into the war on Iraq thing again because it'll probably end up with a slagging match with EED's various screaming lefties. However, I'd like to point something out which I think is a valid point regardless of which side of the fence you are on. Blair has stuck to his guns. This being the man that critics had accused of having no policies and not sticking up for his beliefs.
Ordinarily, when faced with the largest public demonstration in British history, one would expect a politician to U-turn rapidly. He's stuck to his guns and he's taken a big hit in the opinion polls as a result. As a politician there's nothing for him to gain by going against the wishes of the people.
Poll wise, the British public are still divided. Most women don't want a war in Iraq. Most men do but there's little between it. Blair is still banking on being able to convince people it's the right thing to do. This is the sort of thing which in my opinion has been so lacking in politics of the past.
In stark contrast, there's Charles Kennedy, leader of the Liberal Democrats. As I've indicated before, I have a lot of time for the Lib Dem policies but this mans actions during this time I have found deplorable. He's been a mess of inconsistent messages and he just smacks of trying to pick up some cheap votes by piling into the No War camp.
That's the easy thing to do, turn up with the demonstrators and rant at the government. The hard thing is to stand up and try to convince the British public why they should go to war. That said, I don't think it's ultimately going to do Blair any favors. No doubt people will continue to claim that he'd rather listen to Bush instead of the British people.
I think history will be more kind to him in retrospect.