Candid (British) assessment of Obama

Leaked to The Telegraph, a center-right broadsheet newspaper in London, a seven-page assessment of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama by Sir Nigel Sheinwald, British ambassador to the United States. It was in a letter to Gordon Brown, British Prime Minister, marked "This letter contains sensitive judgements. Please limit copying, and protect the contents carefully." Sir Nigel was mostly complimentary, but very, very measured in his praise. Closest thing to a nut graf comes in his assessment of Obama's policies:

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.

Also in The Telegraph, a story saying the Republican campaign acknowledged vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin hadn't met Sir Nigel after all. Apparently he was scheduled to attend a meeting of the National Governors Association but canceled at the last minute. Strikes me as more a comment on the quality of campaign staff work than Palin's foreign affairs experience, although neither is shown to good advantage.