THE TELEGRAPH: For a man who prides himself on his encyclopaedic knowledge of American politics, Gordon Brown has made an incomprehensible schoolboy error with his article apparently endorsing Barack Obama’s candidacy.
It is hard to know where to start in assessing the ineptitude of its content and timing or the effect it will have on Anglo-American relations when the new president is sworn in on January 20th.
The first law of diplomacy is that you do not stick your fat foot into other country’s elections, least of all the US presidential contest, where the chap who wins can turn round and squash you, like Monty Python’s giant descending foot, if you get it wrong.
John McCain will, of course, be furious by the diplomatic slight. The Republican candidate has twice met with Mr Brown in the last year and always hits the Prime Minister’s talking points on the need for allies to have more say in the war on terror and the general excellence of the British armed forces. He deserved better than this.
Nor is the endorsement, particularly so ineptly delivered, of Gordon Brown something that will warm the increasingly cold feet of Barack Obama. The Democratic candidate has been panned at home for his grandstanding European tour. He won’t win over Appalachia with the news that Britain’s lame duck prime minister is rooting for him.
There is also a factual point. Despite Mr Brown’s words, it is far from clear that it is the “Democrats who are generating the ideas to help people through more difficult times.” If they have, the voters haven’t noticed. In fact, Mr Obama has proved quite unable to convince the electorate that he has the answers on the failing US economy. Otherwise he would have states like Pennsylvania and Ohio, the keys to the White House, in the bag. He does not.
And this is what makes the statement potentially so ruinous. It is a classic testament to Mr Brown’s tin ear and ham-fisted political touch that he has chosen to do this at a time when Obama’s standing has never been weaker in his battle with Mr McCain. The Republican leads for the first time in national polls. There is a good chance that Mr Obama will not be president. Gordon Brown's Endorsement Won't Win Barack Obama Votes >>> By Tim Shipman in Washington | September 10, 2008
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