Ambassador Sir Nigel Sheinwald calls Obama aloof

[Ichingcarpenter]

Nigel? Who they hell names their kid Nigel unless they are aloof?




John McCain's campaign has seized on a leaked letter by the British ambassador to the United States as a perceptive portrayal of Barack Obama too liberal and untested to be fit for the White House.



Gordon Brown appeared in a recent article in the parliamentary magazine Monitor supporting the Democratic candidate Barack Obama Photo:



A senior McCain adviser took the opportunity to fire a shot at Gordon Brown, who appeared in a recent article in the parliamentary magazine "Monitor" to support Mr Obama, the Democratic nominee, against Mr McCain.
"Your ambassador appears to be a keen observer of the political landscape in this race," the adviser said. "We are running against a decidedly liberal machine politician with no clear principles and an abundance of ambition. Perhaps that explains Gordon Brown's endorsement."

In a frank verdict on Mr Obama, Sir Nigel Sheinwald, ambassador in Washington since last year, described him as a "maybe aloof" and a "decidedly liberal" senator "who was finding his feet, and then got diverted by his presidential ambitions".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/johnmccain/3131072/John-McCain-campaign-seizes-on-leaked-British-ambassador-letter.html


Now who is this guy? Well, his wife works for the US FDA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_Sheinwald

[rockymountaindem]

1. I'm sure Joe-Six-Pack will be swayed by someone named "Sir Nigel"

Not.

[Fridays Child]

7. Yes, right after they're influenced by Lady de Rothschild.

Not.

[1corona4u]

2. Isn't that the same guy palin said she met, and really didn't?

I think so....yep, it is...



Sir Nigel Sheinwald, Britain’s Ambassador in Washington, has made a habit of ruffling feathers. His recent performance has, however, been exceptional, causing varying levels of irritation to the campaigns of both US presidential nominees.

The British Government was left squirming with embarrassment yesterday after the leak of a confidential letter to Downing Street in which Sir Nigel mixed praise for Barack Obama with a description of his “liberal voting record” and a suggestion that charges of elitism “are not entirely unfair”.

But the ambassador has also sent ripples of annoyance through Republican ranks. The Times has learnt that last summer he cancelled a meeting with Sarah Palin - before she was picked as vice-presidential nominee - on the ground that talking to the Governor of Alaska would be a “complete waste of my time”.



http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article4878002.ece

[AlCzervik]

3. wow, that dude killed someone and it sure looks like he got diplomatic immunity.

call me if another ambassador that didn't kill someone says something about Obama.

[Ichingcarpenter]

10. What a Sheinwald you know? He was also appointed by Tony Blair

I don't think the story is gonna get much play, except maybe by Faux of course,

But I expect the McCain campaign to use every little thing they can in the next 30 days.
Just wanted see what everyone thought of the story.

[beac]

18. Murderer-hating elitist!

Talk like that will lose us the depraved indifference vote!

;)

[Barack_America]

4. Uh oh. Someone's going to be out of a job in January...

If not sooner.

And seriously, "aloof"? Please. That ain't shit. McCain's Republican colleagues have said much, much worse about him. I'd rather have a cool and "aloof" President then a temperamental hothead who lashes out at the slightest provocation.

[krkaufman]

16. He *should* be out of a job even sooner, getting mixed-up in our elections in this way. n/t

[FrenchieCat]

5. Oh no....there goes McCain politicizing our relations with the UK!

"A senior McCain adviser took the opportunity to fire a shot at Gordon Brown, who appeared in a recent article in the parliamentary magazine "Monitor" to support Mr Obama, the Democratic nominee, against Mr McCain."

[BrklynLiberal]

6. I am sure that his wife working within BushCO had nothing to do with his comment...

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Thrill]

8. I doubt they want to go there. Obama actually has Gordon Brown's endorsement.

Who the hell cares what an ambassador says?

[pot luck]

9. Just read the memo. It's not as bad as they're making it out to be.

Context:

"- Obama is cool. He looks cool, tall, slim. He is temperamentally cool (by any standards, not just in comparison with the more impetuous McCain). And maybe aloof, insensitive - see above. Friends like Tom Daschle told me that he demands calm and "no dramas" from those around him. That will, I think, be an important criterion for his choice of running mate;

<snip>

Obama's politics and policies are still evolving. His Illinois and US Senate careers give us only a few clues as to his likely priorities in office. In the Senate he took a low profile in 2005-6, but was a diligent member of the Foreign Relations Committee, respectful and friendly to the veteran Republican Senator Lugar, with whom he travelled to London in 2005. His voting record was decidedly liberal. But the main impression is of someone who was finding his feet, and then got diverted by his Presidential ambitions. Obama's positions and policies emerging from the campaign are a better guide to a future Presidency, but "The Audacity of Hope" (2006) does of course set out the broad themes. If elected, Obama would have less of a track record than any recent President. Carter would be the nearest, but even he had four years as a Governor."

http://www1.sky.com/news/Sheinwald.doc

[depakid]

20. If that's the actual memo, it sounds pretty fair and accurate to me

Hard to really disagree with any of the assessments- particularly from a British ambassador's perspective.

[mduffy31]

11. To be fair, Nigel in the British Isles is like John here

[and-justice-for-all]

12. Wanker..nt

[SeattleGirl]

13. 'scuse me? An Englishman is calling an American aloof?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Kind of Blue]

14. Stupid McCain, always off message now going overseas

for what he thinks is campaign support. I wonder what foreigner he'll jump on next. Ugh!

[Deep13]

15. Deep13 asks, "Who the hell is Ambassador Sir Nigel Sheinwald?"

And why should I give a shit what he thinks. Anyway, a hollow observation coming from a minor feudal nobleman.

[Drunken Irishman]

17. Nigel Sheinwald sounds like a name from a Monty Python sketch.

[No Elephants]

19. Let me guess. Sir Nigel is a Conservative.

[4lbs]

21. Sir Nigel's calling Obama aloof?

Wow. Seeing as how Sir Nigel's a rich, elite, silver spoon who has never seen the slums of Liverpool, that's definitely something.

[no_hypocrisy]

22. A British aristocrat deeming an American commoner "aloof" is rather ironic.