The Daily Show's take on Brown's American trip

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Brown in the USA

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Brown to have a weekend of DVD watching

More on the snub that Barack Obama gave to Gordon Brown.

Iain Martin over at Three Line whip says that

Obama looked like he would rather have been anywhere else than welcoming the British leader to his office and topped it all with his choice of present (*) for the PM. A box of 25 DVDS including ET, the Wizard of Oz and Star Wars? Oh, give me strength. We do have television and DVD stores on this side of the Atlantic. Even Gordon Brown will have seen those films too often already.

Not the way that Brown wants to go down in history

Rather a put down for the Prime Minister in this week's Spectator from James Forsyth.

He writes that following Gordon Brown's visit to Washington

Gordon Brown has absurdly high expectations of the political boost he will get from this week’s trip to Washington and the G20 summit in London next month, says James Forsyth. It is David Cameron who stands to be the likely beneficiary of the special relationship

Brown he says will

not go down in the history books alongside the other prime ministers who have had the honour of addressing a joint session of the US Congress — Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair — but as one who oversaw the worst recession in postwar British history and never even won an election.

A point reiterated in the Guardian this morning by Martin Kettle who says that

The reality is that very few speeches change the political weather. When they do, it is often because they define someone who was until then an unknown quantity. It is far harder for an already deeply familiar figure like Brown to recast his reputation overnight.

A good performance

I felt that Gordon Brown's performance in front of both houses in Washington was a good effort.Perhaps a little too heavy on the historical facts but he caught the mood well.

In particular his Rwandan story of the boy called David pulled together his themes of looking forward and countries working together.

That seems to be the thoughts of many commentators

His speech wasn’t up there with Blair’s 2003 effort, but his knowledge of American politics enabled him to hit most of the right notes and, at the risk of being guilty of the soft bigotry of low expectations, Brown’s delivery was better than usual.

says James Forsyth

I would give it a B+ for delivery and a B- for content. His love for the American experience - and the sheer excitement of the event - seemed to infuse his speaking style which had more personal warmth than his usual hectoring drone. says Janet Daley

Nick Robinson describes it as

a speech which began with flattery and gratitude but ended with a challenge. It was delivered with passion and received with warmth. There were no fewer than 19 standing ovations.

Jonathan Freedland makes a good point

It is unlikely that Gordon Brown will apologise for his part in producing the conditions for global recession as it is unlikely that he will blame the United States for it when he stands up in front of the joint houses later today.

However I totally agree with Jonathan Freedland's point in the Guardian that maybe an acceptance of default could pave the way for future recovery for him and the party.

It needn't be a sackcloth and ashes apology but an admission that the entire political and financial establishment erred when it believed in the infallibility of the market, and that New Labour's love affair with the City was part of that error.

writes Freedland this morning

At least Bush and Brown have one thing in common

Via Coffee House

Not the best of previews by Reuters for Gordon's meeting with Bush

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will meet all three major U.S. presidential
candidates on Thursday before seeing President George W. Bush, a reminder that
world leaders are now looking beyond Bush to his successor.

Brown, on
his second U.S. visit since taking office last year, holds talks in rapid
succession with presumptive Republican nominee John McCain and the Democrats
vying for their party's nomination, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

He then goes to the White House to meet Bush, who shares the
British prime minister's plight -- low popularity and economic problems at home.

Gordon over America

There is no shortage of coverage of Gordon Brown in America.Nick Robinson tells us that

I've just woken to the sight of a grinning and understandably awkward Gordon Brown staring out of my hotel TV screen.

Adam Boulton is rather critical of his mode of travel

He intended instead to charter a BA jet - a decent enough plan, so long as they were available...
...which they weren't for his trip to the States. So he's had to travel in this monstrosity.

According to Andrew Porter

The Prime Minister has just praised America, American TV and thanked the country for its contribution to "culture". He temporarily looked bemused when his ABC interviewer asked how different it was being PM to a TV producer. I had almost forgotten but he did work in TV in late 70s and early 80s

Meanwhile James Forsyth says

The total lack of interest surrounding Gordon Brown’s visit to the United States is a testament to how shamefully detached from the Iraq project Britain now is.