Obama, Brown to Cross Paths in France, but at Opposite Ends of Popularity Scale

Published December 24, 2015

President Obama and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown may appear together Saturday in Normandy, France, for the 65th anniversary of the Allied invasion on D-Day, but their political fortunes couldn't be further apart.

Obama, who is enjoying high approval ratings both at home and abroad, is riding high off a five-day journey to the Mideast and Europe, during which he tried to mend fences between the United States and the Muslim world in a major speech delivered in Cairo. In Germany, he toured the site of the Buchenwald concentration camp.

Brown, on the other hand, is fighting for his political life as he faces Cabinet shake-ups and calls for his resignation.

Brown has been badly stung by a scandal over British lawmakers' expenses, a string of top-level departures and expected catastrophic results in local elections for his Labour Party.

If Brown is hoping for some of Obama's good fortunes to rub off on him, foreign analysts say he shouldn't bet his mortgage on it.

"The meeting is not going to revive Brown's fortunes," said Sally McNamara, a senior policy analyst in European affairs at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "Obama might be a messiah-like figure, but he's not a miracle worker. And quite frankly, that's Brown's only hope: a divine intervention."

When they met three months ago, it was Obama who found himself cast in a negative light for giving Brown a set of 25 classic American movies on DVDs to mark the prime minister's historic visit to the White House. The movie set reportedly included "ET," "Star Wars" and "The Wizard of Oz."

Brown, who is not considered a movie buff, gave the president and his children several uniquely historical gifts.

Fast forward to Friday. Brown announced a Cabinet reshuffle, hoping to restore his declining fortunes.

"I have the determination to take this country through the most difficult of economic times, and this is what I am doing," he said. "I will get on with the job and I will finish the work.

Brown, who some legislators view as the key obstacle to the party's hopes of avoiding defeat in the next national election, promoted key allies to his inner circle in a bid to block efforts to oust him from his post.

Brown also promised to introduce an independent regulatory body to oversee lawmakers' expense claims, whose publications has deeply embarrassed parliamentarians and badly eroded support for his Labour party.

But McNamara said Brown's moves are too late to save him, arguing that he has demonstrated terrible leadership qualities as chancellor for nearly 10 years and prime minister for the last two.

"He's a devalued prime minister of a devalued government," she said, echoing Daniel Hannan, a conservative member of the European Parliament. "He must know he can't turn this around."

McNamara added that Brown should resign. "The country needs leadership," she said. "He's incapable of leading his party, much less the country."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/obama-brown-to-cross-paths-in-france-but-at-opposite-ends-of-popularity-scale