Abraham Lincoln once said memorably that you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all the time. Gordon Brown is about to realise the second most important adage of politics: you cannot be all things to all people.
These are not the worst of times, but they are by no means the best, either. After 10 years of such silky smooth spin that it would make even Bill Clinton blush, the British electorate is desperate for action. Iraq, the National Health Service, education, transport - there is a lot to fix and an increasingly impatient electorate demanding results, not excuses. From today forward, you will not have Tony Blair to kick around any more.
