As Neil Kinnock burst exuberantly into Darlington's Dolphin Center gymnasium, 1,000 supporters jumped up with a whoop. His right fist pumping air like a boxer who has just knocked out the champ, the Labor Party leader strode to the podium to accuse the Conservative government of creating a "divided kingdom," with islands of affluence surrounded by poverty. Campaigning in Edinburgh, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher responded that economic prosperity would "vanish like a dream" if Labor were elected. "Personal abuse," she added disdainfully, "signals panic."
The Labor Party was anything but panicky, though, as the campaign moved toward Thursday's election. Unlike its...