His rare pronouncements on the two main national issues of the past few weeks show him failing to use opportunities for straight talking: he was late in criticising Congress's Kosovo votes, and did little to lead public debate about gun laws and youth violence in the wake of the high-school killings in Littleton, Colorado.

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But CNN's Alessio Vinci says these are issues that neither of the two main candidates for prime minister have addressed.

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Republicans, however, dismiss such polls, arguing the midterm elections will be about two main themes: Fighting the war on terror and local issues.

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Independent analysts who have examined the manifestos of Sri Lanka's two main parties argue that there is no significant difference between them on many key issues.

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There are two main core values we need to consider and put in place when approaching effective youth work or challenging youth issues.

BBC: NEWS | Programmes | Panorama | The system needs to be challenged

Price is not the main concern when the life of the firm might be at stake: around two-thirds of British equity issues in 2009 were to shore up firms' finances.

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Another factor in his decision will be how the two main parties respond to a 25-page agenda he has sent to them, to determine whether they are addressing issues he believes are important.

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