By Toby Harnden, Uk Telgraph, US Editor
So Boris Johnson, hot on the heels of Colin Powell, has now endorsed Barack Obama for president in his Telegraph column.
Barack Obama: Why can't we judge him on his policies alone?
As usual - and notwithstanding the brilliant writer and impressive politician that he is - it's unclear quite how seriously one should take the Mayor of London. After all, it was only last year, in another rather ill-judged article, that the then Conservative Member of Parliament for Henley endorsed one Hillary Clinton.
Having tired of Hillary, he's jumping on the global bandwagon just in the nick of time. But Boris has a serious elected position so we should do him the courtesy of at least trying to take what he writes seriously.
What's his argument? Boiled down, Boris thinks that Obama is courteous, intelligent, sincere and speaks well. Oh, yes, and he is black. Shades of Joe Biden's patronising remark that Obama was "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy".
With a seemingly straight face, Boris argues that race is a "reason" for wanting Obama to be elected, blithely stating that many white racists will vote against him because he's black while many blacks will back him because of he's one of their own. And yet - get this - an Obama victory will show that in modern America "people are judged not on the colour of their skin but by the content of their character". Talk about trying to have it both ways.
Boris concludes, with a customary flourish, that Obama being elected would mean that being black would be as relevant "as being left-handed or ginger-haired". Yeah, right. Somehow I doubt we'll be reading Boris columns about the need for ginger-haired American presidents to inspire persecuted carrot tops everywhere.
If Obama wins, Old Etonian born-to-rule Boris pronounces, "black people the world over will be able to see how a gifted man has been able to smash through the ultimate glass ceiling".
Well how about a black politician being judged on his economic and foreign policies rather than his value as an inspiration to other blacks? A President Barack Obama would mean that "it will be simply fatuous to claim that there are no black role models in politics or government".
After Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Clarence Thomas, the late Ron Brown, Deval Patrick and John Lewis - to name but a few prominent African-Americans who have risen to high office - it's already fatuous.
His only mention of Obama's economic plans is that "we must hope that any ill-considered new taxes will be thwarted by Congress". Thwarted by a Democratic-controlled Congress led by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid? Keep hoping, Boris.
Which brings me to a final point. Why on earth does a conservative British politician like Boris, a potential future Prime Minister, feel the need to endorse a liberal candidate in a US presidential election?
Like all the other Europeans pontificating about how great Obama is, Boris has no vote, though he was born in the US and, according to his biographer and fellow Telegraph hack Andrew Gimson, showed early signs of megalomania as a child by expressing an ambition to win the White House.
It's because it's easy to make a feel-good choice, a grand gesture if you don't have to live with the consequences of your vote because it's not your country.
In this case, the reasoning actually cheapens Obama's candidacy by treating him as a mere racial symbol, worthy of Boris's nod because he's black, presentable, "not the Marxist subversive loony Lefty that some of his detractors allege" and "seems to stand for hope, not fear".
Electing a US president is more than just a jolly jape or a vehicle for a whimsical column. There are many good cases to be made for electing Obama. Alas, my esteemed colleague's column is not one of them.
