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Why being called Mr Leader by Mitt Romney may be a mark of respect

July 26, 2012 2:34 pm

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I’m no fan of Mitt Romney, but I’m bemused by the amusement today (including over at the BBC) after Mitt Romney referred to Ed Miliband as “Mr Leader”.

Except in American politics, the leaders of Majority and Minority groups in the Senate and Congress are habitually referred to (reverentially) as “Mr Leader”.

Such as this interview with Senate Majority leader Eric Cantor on Meet The Press:

Ed Miliband is – as an American politician would understand it – the “Minority Leader”. Mr Leader, therefore, is a term of respect, right?

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  • http://twitter.com/robertsjonathan Jonathan Roberts

    Absolutely right Mark.  The Americans still have a formal system of addressing each other in politics, and the term he used was perfectly respectful.

    But sadly politics is, today, just a vacuous mess of attempted ‘gotcha’ moments, where people will do anything they possibly can to find evidence, no matter how tenuous, of a gaffe or immoral action.  And if they can’t find any evidence, they’ll just make it up or twist people’s words beyond all recognition.

    I honestly don’t see why everyone is so damn unpleasant to each other.

  • citizenandreas

    Seems like a common thing in the US, the president is frequently addressed as “Mr President” after all.

  • Paul Lynch

    Quite right. Regularly the PM or (in the case of Tony Blair) former PM is referred to as ‘Mr Prime Minister’ so it’s probable that Romney was simply acting out of (albeit unfamiliar) formality.

  • Jonathan

    Romney should have been briefed before his visit about the relevant conventions. Obviously he (and/or his campaign team) thinks American modes of address are correct everywhere. 

    • http://twitter.com/ElliotBidgood Elliot Bidgood

      Exactly. In politics, what’s seen to be a gaffe becomes known as a gaffe, and it’d of been better for Romney to have known the right form.

      Though it’s minor, especially compared to the tonnage of “Anglo-Saxon”, ”disconcerting”, “devoid of charm or sincerity”, “worse than Palin”, getting slammed by the two top Tories in the UK and the rest of the #Romneyshambles.

  • Topper

    Could have been worse. Romney could have called Miliband “der Führer “.

    • http://twitter.com/mistyblulabour dave stone

      Or even David…

  • Alex

    Respectful or disrespectful, who cares? I’m going to be disrespectful and say what I think. I don’t care what Mitt Romney thinks of Ed Miliband. The idea that anybody would vote for Romney shocks me – but then the Americans voted for Bush so they have form. 

  • David C

    I always thought that American respect for the title was a mark of their (at least nominal) meritocratic/republican tradition. Washington chose “Mr President” as a styling in order to avoid the trappings of monarchism and it’s just a polite form of address for an office holder. I’m really not sure what the problem is here, it seemed polite and respectful so why the fuss?

  • http://www.themoronmormon.com/ TheMoronMormon

    #RomneyShambles #London2012 The Movie… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lnhVWtT0YQ

  • http://www.robertsharp.co.uk Robert

    Sorry but I don’t buy it.  Romney should know the conventions.  He simply forgot Ed Miliband’s name. 

    But is this gaffe the sort of thing that will lose the party votes?  I doubt it. 

    I think It makes Romney look like a fool in the George W Bush mould, but little else. 

  • Brumanuensis

    As Elliot has pointed out, this is pretty minor compared to some of the other ‘gaffes’ made. For once, I’ll give Mittens the benefit of the doubt and assume he was trying to be polite.

    That doesn’t explain his remarks on NBC though. Or his seeming inability to familiarise himself with local protocol.

    My favourite Romney video, btw: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgBdU7M3Y20&feature=related

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