Two names have emerged over the past week, both of whom one day hope to run their perspective countries – Ed Miliband and Mitt Romney.

On the surface, both appear to be poles apart, one the leader of the Labour Party, the other emerging as the leader of the Republicans.

Yet a closer look will reveal that in actual fact there is very little between them.

Last Saturday, Ed Miliband gave an interview with the The Guardian newspaper in which he attempted to silence those who have been asking questions about whether he is right man for the job.

Ed is a pleasant and appears to be refreshingly honest, which is what probably attracted the Labour faithful to him in the first place.

At a time when politicians are down there with journalists wouldn’t be be great to have some one that isn’t the PR man that David Cameron is and Tony Blair was before him.

Nothing wrong with that logic – it was employed by Gordon Brown with – despite the avalanche thrown at him – some success.

Remember, the Conservatives had to form a coalition to get to number 10 – although, Gordon still hasn’t explained why he sold half the nation’s gold.

And Ed clearly commands the loyalty of people around him – not only did he make everyone of his rivals part of his inner circle, though his brother David declined, his shadow chancellor Ed Balls launched a staunch defence of his leader on Monday with words to the effect of we are sick of the PR machines.

The trouble with Ed at the moment is that unlike Gordon Brown, he doesn’t appear to stand for anything, he doesn’t appear to have had any life experience.

Unfortunately,  never before have the words ‘professional politician’ been so apt and at the same time so redundant.

Of course, Ed can change all that by bringing in people to give him that harder edge – I for one hope he succeeds because at the moment he is coming across as a poorer cousin to the the name now emerging as the serious contender to the disapointment that is Barack Obama, namely that of the rich, very rich apparently, Mormon Mitt Romney.

The slick, well oiled PR machine that is Romney comes from that tradition of Presidents that run all the way back to Ronald Reegan – very smooth operators behind whom are a cabal of very determined and ideologically driven advisors.

Romney does not stand for anything real – he has picked issues, like Gay Rights, which will appeal to a certain type of voter however, he has not given any indication that he intends to alter the path that America is currently embarked on.

America has been let down by every leader since the Reagan era, none has attempted to address the massive social divide that still plagues the richest country on earth and that is a sore that may one day come back to hit everyone in the most unexpected way.

For the moment, Republicans regard Romney as a serious contender to Obama – although Newt Gringrich could be someone to break the mould, trouble is those who bring change, even revolutions, are rarely ever there to see them through to the end.

Whether America is ready for a mormon is of course open to debate.

There again, could anyone  honestly say that a  black man would one day be the President of the United States of America.

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Distant Cousins…