The British and some other European media reported a pledge by Barack Obama to strengthen U.S. links with Britain in a telephone address to a group of influential American expatriates gathered at the London home of Elisabeth Murdoch (daughter of Rupert Murdoch) for a supposedly private fundraising event. Guests and other co-hosts included Kay Saatchi, art collector, Josh Berger, head of Warner Bros in the UK and Ireland, and David Schwimmer, former Friends sitcom star. The Democratic presidential candidate told the group,
‘We have a chance to recalibrate the relationship and for the United Kingdom to work with America as a full partner.’
UK-U.S. relations have hardly been mentioned in the U.S. election campaign, despite their relevance to key campaign issues such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran. The broader transatlantic alliance has not been the subject of much comment either. Obama's remarks on the U.S.-UK “special relationship” were reported in British media including the daily newspapers the Telegraph, the Guardian, the Daily Mail and Metro, and the weekly New Statesman as well as by Germany's international broadcasting station Deutsche Welle. Obama's pledge was seen as especially important, given the widespread criticism of former Prime Minster Tony Blair for failing to secure any quid pro quo from Washington for British support on the Iraq War. But apart from a reprint on the American website, Buzzle.com, the comments received no coverage in the United States.
‘UK's special relationship with US needs to be recalibrated, Obama Tells Expats in Britain’, The Guardian Online, May 27, 2008
