Gordon Brown's YouTube Moments

So, what is it with Gordon Brown and YouTube? Why does he keep on using a medium that he just isn't suited to? Why doesn't he have aides around him who go "you know what, Gordon? You've got the face and the smile for radio. Let's take that video camera away now..."? Why is someone who should know better allowed to humiliate himself on camera repeatedly?

I suspect the answer is twofold. First of all, there will be limited chances for Brown to address the public as his party enters an election campaign. I can't imagine many Labour party candidates welcoming him to any campaign gatherings. I mean, how would any self-respecting Labour candidate introduce Brown at the moment? "Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you our special guest for the evening... he's the man who sums up everything that is wrong with my party and what is so wrong with the country... he's unelected, yet in power, and a dangerous misanthrope at that... Ladies and Gents, please put your hands together for Gordon Brown!" He'd be less welcome than Bush in the last US election - at least Bush had a certain, simple folksy charm, even if the voters did hate him. Brown is about as socially acceptable as a bout of dysentery. 

And that leads to my second reason as to why Brown is now communicating with his people through the YouTube filter. Maybe they know how terrible he is on camera, but also know that is the best possible way for him to communicate with the people. I mean, can you imagine Brown at a campaign event? If a member of the public asked him a question, they'd be literally bored to death by the evasive, non-answer drawled by Brown in reply. And if someone dared to disagree with him, well, they'd be clobbered with a mobile phone round the back of the head. I know I sound like one of those people who speculate on Brown's poor mental health endlessly (partly because I am), but perhaps his aides know that he can't be let out in public at the moment, and that the best way for him to communicate is in a carefully controlled environment. 

That said, YouTube still doesn't work for Brown. Had I seen one of his YouTube broadcasts as a kid, I maintain I would have been freaked out. Seriously, the false smile, the insane laughter, the absolute inability to appear genuine - those YouTube moments for Brown aren't so much funny as terrifying.