After having recently been the subject of a fantasy meeting with Sarah Palin, the Ambassador from the United Kingdom is back in the news today. According to the BBC News and the Telegraph, Sir Nigel Sheinwald - the British Ambassador to the US - is spreading unnecessary and not-so-nice messages about Senator Barack Obama. Apparently he sent a letter to Gordon Brown, just prior to Obama's arrival in London in July, claiming that Obama was "aloof" and "insensitive."
According to the BBC, Sir Nigel Sheinwald - the British Ambassador to the US - apparently sent to a letter to Gordon Brown saying:
Mr Obama was untested and if elected would "have less of a track record than any recent president... there is little Obama track record to refer back to"
continuing the article claims that the Ambassador thinks that:
"Obama's politics and policies are still evolving," he is quoted as saying. "His Illinois and US Senate careers give us only a few clues as to his likely priorities in office... In the Senate... 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."
And finally (and here's where the problems come in)...
"[Mr. Obama] can seem to sit on the fence, assiduously balancing pros and cons", he reportedly says, and "does betray a highly-educated and upper middle class mindset." Charges of elitism "are not entirely unfair" and he is "maybe aloof, insensitive" at times"
Isn't it just a bit awkward when the opinions of major foreign diplomats, such as the Ambassador from the UK, are outed? It kind-of makes it hard to take them professionally serious. Sort of like when George Bush made John (I hate the UN) Bolton our Ambassador to the UN. It's hard to make things work right when you know one party actively doesn't think highly of you.
In fairness to the Ambassador, this was supposed to be confidential. However, there are fewer important diplomats working in the United States, and perhaps no relationship more important that that of the US-UK. While this is not that big of a deal right now, it's the sort of thing that might be a problem in two months, as Obama is building his cabinet. In the least, for now, it's unprofessional, unnecessary, and awkward.