THE TELEGRAPH: Forgive me if I glaze over at the mention of British domestic politics. Given the stupendous drama of events across the pond, Westminster life seems to be played out on - how can I put this? - rather a small stage.
But this sense of being trapped in a Lilliputian landscape seems not to be confined to those of us who are American-born, to judge by the swathe of British commentators who have taken off to the US to pronounce on Super Tuesday, which they view, almost unfailingly, through the prism of their home-grown assumptions. In all the excitement of the coverage here, I fear there are some recurrent misconceptions.
Misunderstanding number one: Teddy Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama was an unambiguous coup which moves him several light years closer to the White House. To the British media (especially the Left-liberal contingent), Teddy is the last remaining link to the great lost leaders, John and Bobby Kennedy, as indeed he is to what is left of the American baby boomer generation which did not swing to the Right during the 1980s.
He certainly represents an important part of the Democratic establishment whose abandonment of the Clintons is significant.
But what Teddy represents to the vast majority of American voters is ultra-liberalism. (More scope for confusion here: Americans use the word "liberal" to mean fairly hardcore Left-wing, not, as we do, to suggest tolerance or middle-of-the-roadness.)
For Obama to be endorsed by Teddy Kennedy is a bit like a prospective Labour leader being endorsed by Tony Benn. Kennedy's kiss of death for Barack Obama >>> By Janet Daley
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
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