Is there something to be learnt from Obama and the maverick?
I was rather relieved when George W Bush regained the White House in 2004. I thought that Tony Blair's chances of being ousted from Downing Street in 2005 would be much greater if the American electorate had booted out their head of state the previous autumn. Not for the first time this position put me in a minority of one with my then colleagues (I was working for The Guardian...) But I maintained then, and still do now, that Tony Blair would have struggled if Bush had been "punished" by the American electorate for the war in Iraq.
I do not believe there is such a strong read across with the American election this time around. Neither an Obama or McCain presidency will have much impact on Gordon Brown's chances of holding onto power at our general election. But there is one valuable lesson which Labour has to learn. Both candidates have fought the election as outsiders, positioning themselves as leading an insurgency to take on vested interests. Obama's campaign has focussed on the obvious (age, race and disenfranchised support) to achieve this while McCain has proclaimed his "maverick" tendencies at every available opportunity.
Labour too will have to do more develop an argument which positions the party outside the establishment. This will not be easy having been in power for more than a decade but it is not impossbible. Especially if the Tories continue to undo much of the progress which they have made over the past two years, with Corfugate being the most notable of a number of recent examples. Labour's challenge now is to show that it is the only party with the experience and know-how to reform Whitehall and steer the country through troubled global waters.
I do not believe there is such a strong read across with the American election this time around. Neither an Obama or McCain presidency will have much impact on Gordon Brown's chances of holding onto power at our general election. But there is one valuable lesson which Labour has to learn. Both candidates have fought the election as outsiders, positioning themselves as leading an insurgency to take on vested interests. Obama's campaign has focussed on the obvious (age, race and disenfranchised support) to achieve this while McCain has proclaimed his "maverick" tendencies at every available opportunity.
Labour too will have to do more develop an argument which positions the party outside the establishment. This will not be easy having been in power for more than a decade but it is not impossbible. Especially if the Tories continue to undo much of the progress which they have made over the past two years, with Corfugate being the most notable of a number of recent examples. Labour's challenge now is to show that it is the only party with the experience and know-how to reform Whitehall and steer the country through troubled global waters.