One could wonder, is this just another case of the spin doctor at work or can Premier Brown seriously not see the writing on the wall?   Premier Brown has again hit back at critics who have labeled him as elitist, arrogant and more obsessed with glitz and glamour than making a difference for the common man.  Yet, in doing so one could wonder if Premier Brown is simply pulling the same cards out of an already tattered bag of tricks or if he seriously believes that he isn’t growing further out of touch with the man in the street. 

Defending himself against critics, Premier Brown today pulled out the argument that people are only after him because he’s black.  Perhaps that argument worked well in the past but it is growing so thin a two year old could poke a hole through it.  Indeed, how many times can one cry wolf and still be heard by the people when the supposed wolves are his own party members?  Further, how many times can the ‘evil’ Royal Gazette be used as a scapegoat when it has been the Bermuda Sun that has been promoting these criticisms?

Does Premier Brown live up to his criticisms?  The answer to such a question lies in the minds of each individual Bermudian, however, polls are not swinging in Premier Brown’s favor.  When responding to a recent Research.bm poll, people’s responses suggest that support for the Premier is only 32% with 40% undecided.  Rather than accept that his support is nearly as bad as President Bush, Premier Brown breaks out the magic math trying to suggest that this means the majority actually support him.  He argued:

“If the 40 is broken down in the same ratio as the 60, right, I get enough to be over 50 percent, which I think is fabulous for a person that’s trying to change things.”

Sure, in the magical land of Oz where the wizard bestows some courage upon the cowardly lion that kind of logic might work, but here in the real world it fails to hold up much water.  Unless our Premier intends to hold a vote with no opponents, his logic doesn’t add up.  According to the poll, if our Premier was to stand against Deputy Premier Paula Cox his magic math would take her 71% approval rating up into the stratosphere and our poor Premier wouldn’t stand a chance.

Whether our Premier wants to admit it or not, there certainly are people both black and white who are not impressed with the way he operates.  While there are many who are struggling against skyrocketing inflation and can barely afford to even eat, our Premier is living the high life driving around in $90,000 cars, flying on private jets and staying in fancy hotels, all on the public dollar.   As Wayne Perinchief suggests, perhaps that’s just the way Premier Brown is, but for the man in the streets it only can last so long before they begin wondering where their piece of the pie is.  Especially when the men in the street are those who happen to defend it and they’re forced to watch while members of parliament take fat pay raises but they’ve been denied any kind of raise since all the way back in 2004.

With his legion of public relations personnel, personnel that only add up to more public dollars spent, one can only wonder if Premier Brown’s defense is steeped in simply a great deal of spin or if he really buys the tattered tricks he appears to be selling.  Premier Brown may or may not be correct in his defense against his critics, but at some point the same tired old arguments will likely grow thin.  Besides, there is no denying that Premier Brown revels in living the high life while the man on the street increasingly feels like his life is getting any higher.  So ask yourself, is our Premier out of touch?  The answer to such a question lies solely with you.