Is Gordon Brown doing it the American Way?
As Gordon Brown gets set to fly to the US for a meeting with Pres Obama there is a suggestion that the UK government will try to make as much spin as possible from the meeting in order to try and recover from a dramatic last few weeks. After a period of calm when Gordon Brown was seen as a "safe pair of hands" the recent opinion polls have shown a collapse in Labour support and the possibility that in the short term the Liberal Democrats could actually take second place. So will President Barack Obama save Gordon Brown?
While there is a suggestion that various meetings and handshakes will receive massive exposure in the world media many in the US believe that the so-called "special relationship" between the UK and the US has very much fallen by the wayside. Indeed, Gordon Brown has recently been attacking the policy of Barack Obama with regards to protectionism and his intention to ensure that all state funded operations will "buy American".
Gordon Brown has some serious bridges to mend and many believe both he and some of his Cabinet colleagues overstepped the mark of late and the US government has a very long memory. Tony Blair enjoyed a very close relationship with Pres George Bush although Barack Obama is a very different situation.
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