It can’t be easy being a world leader in the Barack Obama era. Ever since the president-extraordinary was sworn in on January 20th, Brown, Berlusconi and co have seemed that bit more inadequate. While Obama signs away the future of Guantanamo Bay, offers peace to the middle East and attempts to introduce state-run healthcare to the US, the rest of them find themselves falling ever into his shadows, tangled in sordid sex stories, islam bating comments and souring election defeats. Politics aside too, let’s face it: we all wanted a leader who looked that good in sunglasses. We cringed as our lousy lot fell about themselves for a buddy-shot with the new Pres, and gave a collective sigh of relief when it turned out that Obama wasn’t perving at that woman’s behind in that photo.
As it turned out this week, Obama isn’t even that bad at getting things wrong. In allegedly his worst week in office, which started with a badly managed universal health care move, things went from bad to worse as Obama stepped into the old political death-trap of the race-row. To summarise a much told story: black professor Henry Gates is arrested for disorderly conduct after policeman Jim Crowley arrives at his home following reports that Gates and another black man have tried to break into his house, Obama calls the behaviour of the cop “stupid”, and a national race row erupts. (It should be noted that Obama made no comment about race, admitting that he didn’t know the details; rather, he stated that arresting a man in his own home was stupid, and that one could understand Gates’ anger. To deny this latter fact is to ignorantly deny that there is a history of discrimination against black people in America. Obama’s comments may have been too hasty, but the race row that has erupted is a distortion of the events that have occurred, and fails to acknowledge that the election of a black president has not dissolved all racial issues in the US.)
Of course, Obama has not escaped without criticism (most noticeably from right wing Fox maniac Glenn Beck, which can only really be a good thing). But if there was one thing saving Obama from suffering even more in the polls, it is no doubt his admission that he made an error of judgment, and the beer he will share with Gates and Crowley to diffuse the matter. As debates about racial identity are replaced by online polls guessing at the beers that will be consumed, Obama lives to fight another day.
If there is any world leader left looking inferior here, it is Gordon Brown. For our own government doesn’t fare too well when it comes to back-tracking. Whether it comes to spending cuts, the publication of expenses, the Iraq war inquiry or semi-privatising Royal Mail, one phrase has persistently dogged Brown’s attempts to back-peddle out of controversial policies, a phrase that shares headline space with him almost monthly: this is, of course, the “embarrassing u-turn”.
So just when does admitting an error of judgment become a u-turn? When does the salvaged dignity that comes with Obama’s move give way to a charge of ineptitude and flip-flopping? Well the simple answer is time. As soon as the issue began to gather pace, Obama was quick to admit that his words could have been more thought-out, and even quicker to directly telephone those involved and organise the White House knees-up. Compare this to Brown, who seemingly waits until his policy is hailed with criticism, and then waits some more, and then finally changes direction. But to explain it all by time is too general, and isn’t necessarily true; were Brown to drop an idea as soon as any opposition came his way, it would be an even greater sign of weakness. No, time only masks the real issue, which is this; the longer Brown appears to delay the abandonment of a policy, the more he looks like he is acting in his own interest, dismissing all criticism until his idea literally can’t run any further, and then dropping it. Brown is left looking incompetent, unable to read public opinion; unable to care.
All this harks back to Brown’s unfortunate inability to present himself clearly and confidently to the public. The shame of this is twofold; firstly, it isn’t necessarily the case that Brown is all the things he appears to be. I do believe that he cares about public opinion, and feel that his reluctance to make any knee-jerk media-friendly decisions is a strength, not a weakness. While I agree with most critics that he has not shown the strength of leadership that many had hoped, the claims that he is inept are untrue. But the greater tragedy is that Brown is likely to lose the next election to a man with great confidence, but a complete lack of ideas. While Obama’s presentation skills are supported by ambition and policy, Cameron is all style over substance.
What Brown’s “embarrassing u-turns’ show us, then, is that a leader needs to be able to present themselves with self-assurance; however possessing this quality alone does not a good leader make.
This Week: Having seen Ben Stiller kiss a waxwork woman in Night of the Museum 2, and this week Mark Wahlberg lock lips with a monkey, Tom has decided that the romantic unity between humans and other species should not enter the film world.
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