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Cameron: the new Obama? (In a bad way)

Mark Mardell | 15:48 UK time, Tuesday, 23 February 2010

It's not often the American media take much notice of British politics although Mr Brown's management style is making some headlines. claiming conservative leader David Cameron may be the next Obama. But not in a good way.

David Cameron and Barack Obama

The American conservative author worries a little that Mr Cameron uses the word "fair" but decides that this is not automatically a bad thing, although it probably is. He continues to say that most of Mr Cameron's policies back government, not the taxpayer:

"He's a big-spending politician who takes over from another big-spending politician. In the long run, this is a recipe for the Tories to be a minority party. And if Republicans follow the same approach, they also will be a minority party".
His conclusion sounds even more damning: "Nixon with a smile".


There is a concerted push by the right in the US to make sure the Republicans move to a more conservative position and don't drift to the centre. The conservative cause has been given a huge impetus by the Tea Party movement.

The movement is both economically conservative and populist, deriding Washington politics in the evergreen certainty that being against the political establishment is a vote winner.

That makes Scott Brown's vote so interesting. Remember, he was the Republican victor in Massachusetts who took what was Ted Kennedy's seat off the Democrats.

He was elected with a lot of Tea Party help, but promised to be independent. He has now voted, along with a handful of other Republicans and all the Democrat senators for a jobs bill.

How will the right react to this display of bipartisanship? Is it a move towards the centre or it just a painless way for Mr Brown to signal he's different, before getting down to business as usual?

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