Brown dumps the frown while Obama is calmer
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 by Jon Clements
Interesting times for the UK and US’s leaders and leaders in waiting.
As Gordon Brown and the UK government is bailing out the banks, it leaves the Opposition with little to do apart from offer their (grudging) support. Anything else would look churlish and fly against the need for the public to see something done.
But while unable to attack Gordon Brown’s sudden decisiveness on the economic crisis, Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, has felt the need to prick the way he claims Brown is coming across - as “triumphal”. Andrew Rawnsley in The Observer sees it differently, sketching the Prime Minister as lifted from his trademark moroseness by the current challenges. So, image goes a long way in politics.
And in the US, as election day approaches, poor John McCain looks like he might be his own worst enemy, becoming better known for his “short fuse” and “erratic leadership” than the statesmanship Barrack Obama is adopting, even referencing the great FDR’s “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” quote in his current speeches. Obama is calmer while McCain hopes the final presidential debate will enable him to “whip Mr Obama’s you know what” (his words, apparently).
With image counting for so much in politics, I wouldn’t stake a half dollar on it.
