How tough is the message?
President Obama's envoy Frank Wisner is now in Cairo.
He's a 72-year-old state department veteran, a former ambassador to Egypt who knows President Mubarak well. The state department says his job will be to reinforce the administration's message that there must be real change.
Just how direct that message will be is uncertain. The White House has held a meeting of experts, seeking ideas about how to deal with the crisis. One participant told the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ that the overriding impression was that the administration is stuck with a conundrum and a question: President Mubarak can't be part of the equation ...but if he's not going what do you do?
One idea floated was sending a representative to send him a very blunt message: It's all over. While the White House continues to insist it is not the job of the US government to pick leaders, the strong view in Washington is that it wants Mubarak to go, and the army to take over until elections can be held - but President Obama believes its counter productive to say so in public.
Former presidential candidate John Kerry, who keeps in close touch with the administration, that he should make it clear that he and his son won't run in the next elections. But the Egyptian president is, so far, ignoring all this kind advice.
I’m Mark Mardell, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's North America editor. These are my reflections on American politics, some thoughts on being a Brit living in the USA, and who knows what else? My 
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