Unfortunately these days it's the media that actually has the bulk of the power.
There's nothing wrong with Brown particuarly - but then there was nothing much wrong with Blair either. They made some bad decisions, but that's what politics is about. It's pretty short sighted to believe that there's a "right" answer to most of the political problems that we face; there isn't, it's mostly about mitigating disaster!
The simple fact is that political/economic/cultural uncertainty sells papers. The papers (tabloids particularly, but also the broadsheets to some degree) can get away with printing the most incredible stories, and justifying it as freedom of the press. But the reality is that Murdoch and lord knows who else try to control what we see and have access to. And that includes politics.
I'm very cynical when it comes to the press. I think that we're in a nasty, cyclical trap, where we can't trust politicians, because they're so guarded against the press, and we can't trust the press because they have a circulation agenda. Not sure I can see a way out of that one.
Stop me before I break out the guitar and start singing Billy Bragg songs.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Mark.