Jackie Ashley argues that Gordon Brown deserves the extra time she thinks he bought with his speech yesterday, even though she concedes it won’t be nearly enough to save him in the long run. But I was also struck by this:
Iron rule of politics: anytime hacks start referring to the leader’s spouse as his/her “greatest asset” it’s time for sentient folk to head for the lifeboats. cf, Laura Bush. A good wife (or husband) is not enough. Sarah Brown’s appearance introducing the Prime Minister was a) obviously borrowed from American politica and, more importantly, b) a sign of weakness not strength. She was there as a sort of human shield to protect Gordon from the nasties who want to do him in.
Theoretically Brown could recover from all this. But it still seems exceedingly unlikely. The public may not be entirely sold on Cameron’s Tories but they know they don’t want a fourth Labour term.
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