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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politi...ge/4487253.stm
American coverage of the British campaign has been less than wall to wall.
The UK election has been mentioned on most US news outlets but even though Tony Blair is well known in America, there is little in the way of day to day election news from Britain.
Mr Blair has crashed down to earth, according to a reporter for the NBC television network, but the correspondent added that the opposition conservatives were in a ditch.
That is the conclusion being drawn by almost all American coverage of the British election - that Mr Blair will win, but that Britain is no longer enthusiastic about its leader.
'Unimpressed'
The well-connected and left-leaning columnist Joe Klein said Mr Blair was staggering to the finish line, unloved and untrusted, after a volatile campaign.
The Washington Post talks of Iraq as an issue which has dogged Mr Blair from the start of the campaign.
"The divisive war has taken chunks from Blair's popularity." the paper says.
"Accused of deliberately hyping the threat posed by Saddam Hussein to justify the invasion, Blair's credibility and trust ratings plummeted."
But most American commentators have been unimpressed by the alternatives to Mr Blair.
Contrast in coverage
The Los Angeles Times has written of a ramshackle Conservative Party opposition that seldom goes through a week without shooting itself in the political foot.
Most news outlets here have covered the election in some form or other but generally with one piece of reporting intended to suffice for the whole campaign.
Most Americans have heard of Tony Blair and are mildly interested in his fate - but only mildly.
The contrast between British coverage of the American electoral process and American coverage of the British is marked and reflects the fact that Britons care about America more than Americans care about Britain.
One aspect of the British process which is commented on regularly and positively though is the short length of the campaign.
The Leader of the Free World is chosen after a battle that lasts the best part of two years. His British sidekick is picked after just a month.
That fact, if no other, impresses American observers.
The UK election has been mentioned on most US news outlets but even though Tony Blair is well known in America, there is little in the way of day to day election news from Britain.
Mr Blair has crashed down to earth, according to a reporter for the NBC television network, but the correspondent added that the opposition conservatives were in a ditch.
That is the conclusion being drawn by almost all American coverage of the British election - that Mr Blair will win, but that Britain is no longer enthusiastic about its leader.
'Unimpressed'
The well-connected and left-leaning columnist Joe Klein said Mr Blair was staggering to the finish line, unloved and untrusted, after a volatile campaign.
The Washington Post talks of Iraq as an issue which has dogged Mr Blair from the start of the campaign.
"The divisive war has taken chunks from Blair's popularity." the paper says.
"Accused of deliberately hyping the threat posed by Saddam Hussein to justify the invasion, Blair's credibility and trust ratings plummeted."
But most American commentators have been unimpressed by the alternatives to Mr Blair.
Contrast in coverage
The Los Angeles Times has written of a ramshackle Conservative Party opposition that seldom goes through a week without shooting itself in the political foot.
Most news outlets here have covered the election in some form or other but generally with one piece of reporting intended to suffice for the whole campaign.
Most Americans have heard of Tony Blair and are mildly interested in his fate - but only mildly.
The contrast between British coverage of the American electoral process and American coverage of the British is marked and reflects the fact that Britons care about America more than Americans care about Britain.
One aspect of the British process which is commented on regularly and positively though is the short length of the campaign.
The Leader of the Free World is chosen after a battle that lasts the best part of two years. His British sidekick is picked after just a month.
That fact, if no other, impresses American observers.
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