By Patricia H. Kushlis
Reality check please. The UK Independent reported on October 3 that the British Ambassador to the US Sir Nigel Sheinwald had “expressed pointedly negative views of the Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama in a leaked, private seven-page letter to the prime minister.” The memo was originally leaked to the Daily Telegraph according to the Independent’s story. Both stories were filed from Washington. The internal British diplomatic memo was written just before Obama’s meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown last summer.
Looks like the British Foreign Ministry has two major problems on its hands:
• first how to spirit Sir Nigel out of town at the stroke of midnight if Barack Obama wins the elections; and
• second how to stop future leaks of this sort from inside the Ministry or perhaps from inside the British Embassy in Washington itself.
Now I heard an Ambassador from another EU country encourage members of a private group during the primaries to vote for Hillary – something I thought curious at the time but also something an envoy assigned to represent his or her government abroad should have thought more than twice about saying.
But what was the purpose of leaking this particular memo to the press during the final weeks of the campaign?
After all, it was foremost a private, internal assessment of Obama’s strengths and weaknesses as seen from the vantage point of the British Embassy – whether I agree with the assessment or not - before Brown was to meet Obama in London last summer.
Who was it designed to help or to hurt?
If the Daily Telegraph is right, the first draft was written by the political section of the British Embassy in Washington then gone over by Sir Nigel himself before transmission to London. If the Daily Telegraph is also right, Gordon Brown’s “inner circle” strongly supported Hillary. But the race is now between Obama and McCain – and Hillary supports Obama. Therefore?
Do Sir Nigel, the British Embassy political section, and/or Brown’s closet pals really think that John McCain is the right person for the job – or that Sarah Palin could actually pass muster if something happens to McCain? If so, they must be denser than I thought.
This leak, however, sounds foremost as if Sir Nigel has enemies in his own Foreign Ministry or perhaps his own Embassy and he’d better look out for his backside sooner rather than later. Or could the leaker of the memo be a closet McCain supporter? If so I think his or her actions are even more inappropriate than the speech I mentioned above.
Whatever the reason, I doubt its contents will carry much weight in our electoral fight.
The Republicans are too busy falsely accusing Obama of being a Muslim and equating Muslims with terrorism all the while raising the tired cry “voter fraud, voter fraud” a spurious claim which cost David Iglesias of New Mexico his job as a US attorney – because despite illegal political pressure from our soon to be ex-Senator (Pete Domenici) and soon to be ex-Congresswoman (Heather Wilson) – he came up empty.
Too bad the only thing positive about the McCain ticket is his “hot” babe who attracts the very men who would have voted for McCain anyway and turns off most Hillary supporters – not to mention a growing number of newspaper editorial boards and just yesterday Colin Powell.
Meanwhile, this memo may similarly cost Sir Nigel his plush suite on Massachusetts Avenue – and perhaps chances of even greater advancement. Or, if the leaker is found or McCain wins, perhaps not.