Poor old Gordon Brown. The British Prime Minister, after a miserable few months in Downing Street— his popularity has reached an all-time low—comes to DC with a suitcase full of ideas for advancing the Anglo-American relationship. But nobody cares because the Pope is here.

At least he managed to get his opinion piece—not the lead, mind, but still—in WSJ. Brown, sticking avidly to his New Labour principles, writes about public-private sector “initiatives” to bind America and Britain together in the brave new world. Yawn. America and Britain do not need more government cooperation to get on, they need less. Even if Benedict XVI was still in Rome, I expect Gordon’s message would fall on deaf ears. Yet all three presidential hopefuls will have to listen to him.

WSJ would certainly have made a bigger fuss over Brown’s contribution if the PM had set out a renewed agenda for spreading democracy in the Middle East. It’s good when politicians stick to the boring stuff.