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Making friends

Nick Robinson | 13:58 UK time, Thursday, 17 April 2008

Today the Prime Minister - a meeting that is likely to be of more consequence in the long run than his meeting with the current occupant of the White House. Which of the three senators - Obama, Clinton and McCain - will make it to the Oval Office Gordon Brown cannot know. However, he does know that the relationship he forms with them will be vital and could have huge consequences for him and for Britain.

GordonBrown.jpgGordon Brown has known Hillary Clinton for years. . He has, though, never met his first visitor at the British Ambassador's residence today - Barack Obama. How and whether they get on will matter at least as much as any issue they discuss.

Who should he want to win? He won't, of course, give so much as a hint.

would be a comfortable choice for Gordon Brown. He knows her, her husband and many of those who surround them after the long years in which New Labour worked closely with New Democrats.

would, on the other hand, embody a significant break with the Bush years. A man with African parentage who was brought up in Indonesia would be well placed to convince the world that the US could and would take seriously global poverty and a dialogue with the Muslim world.

However, there are a series of reasons why might represent the best choice for Gordon Brown. He is more of an Anglophile (or, if you prefer, a Britophile); more an Atlanticist; more committed to free trade and much more predictable in his attitudes to Iraq and Afghanistan. Besides, a McCain victory would prove that age and experience could triumph over youth or novelty.

Gordon Brown has no vote, of course, but it would be fascinating to know who he'd choose after meeting them all one by one today.

PS. I spent last night in "The Spin Room" at the latest debate to pit Hillary Clinton against Barack Obama.

PPS. I know many of you have had trouble submitting comments in the past well from today the 91Èȱ¬ has upgraded its blogging software so now it should be more reliable. From today if you want to comment on any 91Èȱ¬ blog you will need to register first. You can read more about this on the Editors blog.

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    Will any of the Presidential candidates really want to meet Jonah Brown?

  • Comment number 2.

    As an independent from the Government, what do you think of GB's decision not to have a "(Blair)/Brown Force One at his disposal?"

    - is it appropriate or excessive for the British PM to have one?

    - is it beneficial to the taxpayer/voter to have the press and the PM party travelling together? (a cosy club or good for accountability)

  • Comment number 3.

    Gordon Brown is a fake; he presents himself as friend to all candidates yet they take radically different stands on Iraq and differnt again from Brown's.

    He promised withdrawal of troops when he couldn't deliver.

    He promised financial stability and we got dithering and turmoil.

    Questions are being asked by his own party about the authenticity of the man, that's why his visit collides so haplessly with that of the Pope. No one is certain the unelected Prime Minister will still be in his job after the May elections.

    We have entered into the same surreal like state as when Blair was on his way out; no one can quite believe it has all gone so badly wrong. The difference now is no one knows how to put it right.

    Like all final acts, you couldn't have made it up if you'd tried.

  • Comment number 4.

    Dear Nick,

    Who in their right mind gives a toss who Gordy sucks up to ?

  • Comment number 5.

    While the Prime Minister is away just took a dive as big business, the 91Èȱ¬ Office, and the Information Commissioners office conspire to propagate the biggest unlawful interception, privacy invasion, and intellectual property theft in history. This foot-dragging is on par with the phoney election.

    Perhaps, the Prime Minister would like to take his head out of the strategic clouds for a moment and focus on doing something more immediately useful? Breaking the ISP monopolies and the Phorm advertising platform might not win an election but allowing them to bully and cheat the people may be Labour's Poll Tax.

  • Comment number 6.

    Just as the Americans could never fathom our rejection of Mrs T, I wonder if the Presidential candidates will wonder how on Earth Mr Brown ascended to being the leader of our great nation?

  • Comment number 7.

    Whoever the next president is, McCavity Brown will be an irrelevance to them. The Special Relationship is a one sided, abusive one.

    * Extradition
    * Open Skies
    * Trade policy
    * Iraq
    * Tariffs

    And at least the next President will be elected....

    General Election NOW!

  • Comment number 8.

    Hi Nick, I think that the Americans will never show that they are actually taking in all the advice given by Gordon.
    They are well aware that UK is the link to the rest on the other side of the Atlantic.

  • Comment number 9.

    I don't think he'd mind too much which of the three win, though he would possibly see Obama as too unpredictable to be comfortable. Clinton's general political views are closer to Brown's than are McCain's, especially when it comes to domestic policy, but on foreign policy there will probably not be much between them once the election is out of the way.

    Of course the candidates are likely to be interested in how Brown has managed to maintain a successful economy ( second lowest inflation in Europe, unemployment still falling, etc etc) in the face of world-wide turbulence and record oil and food prices, in spite of having the economy most open to global pressures.

    Oh, and congratulations in finally getting the site sorted out. Assuming that it is, of course.

  • Comment number 10.

    Off topic Mr R, but if this new blog platform is to be better than the last shouldn't you have someone processing comments a bit more quickly?

  • Comment number 11.

    Nick, can you see Brown being in charge for the long haul? Long enough to forge a meaningful relationship?

    What really winds me up, is Brown is a bad advert for Britain. They said Blair was too much PR, well hello, its called marketing and if were selling the ability of Britain the man in charge looks a fool. No Blair and no substance should be his new motto.

  • Comment number 12.

    It's all very well Gordon Brown meeting the next President of the USA.

    When are the three remaining candidates going to meet the next British Prime Minister, that's what I want to know.

  • Comment number 13.

    Mr. Brown should clearly favor Sen. Obama, whose views are the most in line with the PM's views on a huge range of topics and who shares similar far-ranging goals. While they may not be as similar in terms of personality, that hardly prevented Blair and Bush from appearing chummy together.

    McCain is simply far, far too conservative to work well with Gordon Brown, especially on foreign policy, and too clueless on economic policy, which he stupidly admitted to the Wall Street Journal. He wants to keep troops in Iraq forever and ramp up the hawkish rhetoric in Iran. He has been in favor of every possible use of U.S. force for the past 20+ years. He has no response whatsoever to global financial problems or the U.S. housing meltdown. If Gordon Brown wants to avoid another Bush - Blair poodle type relationship, he should pray that McCain doesn't win the election.

    Hillary Clinton's centrism, much like that of her husband, will not allow for the achievements Brown seeks on global climate change or African development. Not to mention that she has been all but mathematically eliminated, and the small number of remaining undecided superdelegates are not going to vote en masse for the candidate with fewer pledged delegates, which is what a Clinton comeback would require.

    Free trade is basically a non-issue, despite the talk, as the Senate will block any big changes. Whether or not the U.S. signs a few more bilateral deals with Colombia or other countries with small economies, which is the only real trade issue currently on the table, is just not a big deal. The trade issue with the biggest impact is the U.S. farm bill, a bipartisan boondoggle that goes mostly to large corporations. Yet NAFTA gets all the coverage and the farm bill is hardly ever discussed.

  • Comment number 14.

    Not exactly a great endorsement if a British politician has to back a USA candidate.

    Politicians in the UK of either side Red or Blue are as bad as each other and I certainly wouldn't want them having anything to do with me if I was running for President.

    With scandal after scandal and corruption after corruption coming to light every day from the "House" who in their right mind would ever want an English politician declaring there support for them?

    Tom Fullery

  • Comment number 15.

    GB expecting to still be the dear leader by the time the presidential elections are over ?

  • Comment number 16.

    Just when I was thinking you escaped - instead of getting 'eyeballed' they take recommend giving you a hat. Oh dear.

    Good question though.

  • Comment number 17.

    Of course McCain is an Anglo(Brito)phile - -he needs somewhere to park his planes , be the first to catch the enemy's fire and just do what is needed whether it is for the benefit of the UK or not.

  • Comment number 18.

    Gordon Brown appears very uncomfortable when facing the media, so why did he want to be PM?

    We need a good relationship with the USA. Short term reactions do no good in the long term.

    But who in the Labour Party can they use? I cannot think of one MP who would carry the charisma that Tony Blair had.

  • Comment number 19.

    I hear you're looking for a hat. Harriet Harman knows someone she wouldn't take advice on hats for.

  • Comment number 20.

    I was thinking about Gordon Brown and, more especially about Tony Blair.

    When you watch GB at the press conference with Bush, you realise quite how good TB was at the international stuff.

    People were very critical of TB hanging on so long - now we see Brown in action, I think we may have an idea why.

    Maybe Brown was Blair's revenge at the party that turned against him!

  • Comment number 21.

    The unspeakable in pursuit of the laughable.

  • Comment number 22.

    McCain may be more "predictable" on Iraq, but that doesn't mean he's right.

  • Comment number 23.

    Hang on..... son't tell me he's back! Did he not get lost then?

    Sorry Gordon I really can't imagine you as a statesman you got to be a leader first.

  • Comment number 24.

    Hang on..... Don't tell me he's back! Did he not get lost then?

    Sorry Gordon I really can't imagine you as a statesman you got to be a leader first.

  • Comment number 25.

    Maybe Gordon has a separate agenda whilst in the US?!! Tone went there to secure his future - I wonder if Gordon sees the writing on the wall and is doing the same thing, under the guise of "making friends"?

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