Obama and the Blair Succession

There was the pretence that all government spending is “investment” and there was some familiar-sounding talk of “bubble and bust” but most of all Barack Obama’s press conference was designed to send the message that, look, “I’m a pretty straight kind of guy”. As we know, that’s what Tony Blair said once upon a time and as we also know the public, more or less, believed him. So no wonder something in Obama’s demeanour seemed so oddly familiar to British viewers. There are differences – there always are when comparing British and American politics – but Obama has essentially spent recent days imploring the public to ignore the details and embrace the bigger picture. This too was an essential element of Blairism. Dont sweat the small stuff, feel the ambition. And, above all, trust us.

In fact the similarities between Blair and Obama don’t end there. Each has perplexed, even confounded, his opponents who’ve had difficulty deciding just how to attack them.