Earlier this week I asked what Obama’s experience could teach a Cameron government. At the same time, there has been a well-argued debate in The Times about whether the Tories should go negative or not. There is one point where the two issues converge – and that is in how a newly-elected government should deal with the country’s economic legacy.
Once in power, a Tory government will be tempted to be optimistic, to point to the sunny uplands. General Colin Powell said “positive thinking is a force multiplier” and the Cameron team come across as natural adherents to this viewpoint. There is also the fact that the modern Tory agenda – of decentralisation and trust in people – is at heart a positive philosophy of government, not a mistrustful statist one.
But President Obama has found that moving on, trying to focus on the future, being the Optimist-in-Chief has meant that US voters today blame his administration rather than George W Bush for the country’s economic troubles.
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