Watching the TV coverage this morning of US presidential candidate Barack Obama’s visit to London this weekend, and reading much of the online media and blog commentaries, I was struck by the imagery suggested by a montage I’ve mixed together of some separate photos of different events during the visit.
What these images say to me very clearly is past, present, future.
In case you’re not familiar with who’s in these photos with Barack Obama (he’s the one with the red tie) let me throw some light, from left to right – Tony Blair, past Prime Minister; Gordon Brown, current Prime Minister; and David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party.
The future is where most attention will be. We’ll be having a general election in the UK by 2010 and David Cameron is clearly odds-on to win it whenever it takes place, judging by what the tea leaves look like at the moment.
The future leader in the US could be Barack Obama rather than John McCain.
Those tea leaves again.
2 responses to “Political leadership past, present and future”
Broad support in Europe is usually the kiss of death for a U.S. Presidential candidate. See John Kerry in 2004 for recent history on that philosophy. Americans are generally resistant to voting for someone who seems to concerned with pleasing another continent.
Barack Obama may be an exception since he is very adept at crafting a variety of different messages. During the primaries he courted the vote in Ohio by stressing his opposition to free trade agreements. In Europe he’s been talking up free trade and open commerce with our allies.
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