Can Brown make an impact on US?

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By Jonathan Beale BBC News, Washington

Take a photograph of Gordon Brown down to Capitol Hill - as I did just a few weeks ago - and ask passers by to name the face.

Mr Brown is relatively unknown in the United States

The response is in the vacant expressions of the power dressed politicos of Washington DC.

A few could say "Gordon Brown" but most were clueless.

"Tony Blair" said one gentlemen staring at the photo of his rival and successor - or "Paul Wolfowitz with a lot of hair" was another curious response.

It is just a reflection of the fact that Gordon Brown is a relative "unknown" in America, and a virtual stranger in the White House.

'Microscopic profile'

Sure he has been to DC countless times to take part in IMF and World Bank meetings.

But he only had his first encounter with President Bush at the White House just a few months ago - without any cameras to witness the event.

Can you picture Mr Brown standing at the podium next to Mr Bush - winking at reporters - joking about the kind of toothpaste they use? Jonathan Beale

Afterwards - like a man who had been caught having a secret affair - Mr Brown gave the impression that it was a "chance encounter".

He said he had been meeting the president's national security adviser when the president happened to poke his face round the door. Please Gordon! That sort of thing does not happen by accident.

Some would credit Britain's new prime minister as being smart by keeping his distance.

After all it has hardly helped Tony Blair back home - he has had to live with the tag of "Bush's poodle".

But, as Republican Congressman Mark Steven Kirk points out, with Mr Brown's "microscopic" profile he will not have much influence.

Many Republicans are putting their faith in the new French President Nicolas Sarkozy to fill the void left by Mr Blair.

The reality is that Mr Brown's links to the Democratic party are in far better shape than his ties to the Republican administration.

Republican links

Britain's prime minister can count John Kerry and Ted Kennedy as friends and visits them on his holidays while staying in Cape Cod.

Mr Blair and Mr Bush enjoyed a close relationship

They also happen to be among the harshest critics of the war in Iraq. But he does have a few confidants with links to the Republican party too.

Alan Greenspan - the former head of America's Federal Reserve - is one.

He considers both Mr Brown and Mr Bush as intimates. He told me that both of them are "professionals" and insists "they'll get along".

The anglophile economist Irwin Stelzer is another. He says Mr Brown is "smart" and that he knows if he wants to tackle the issues close to his heart - like eradicating poverty in Africa - then he will need America's help.

Nevertheless Mr Stelzer does expect the relationship to be "quieter" once Tony Blair has gone.

As for President Bush, he has expressed his admiration for the new prime minister.

He says he is a "good fella".

And while some expect the two to have their differences on Iraq - they may not be that great. Tony Blair has already announced that Britain will be reducing the British military presence there from about 7,000 to 5,000 troops.

Mr Brown - on a recent trip to Iraq - ruled out pulling out the remainder anytime soon.

Style over substance

Nile Gardiner - a former advisor to Margaret Thatcher and now of Washington's centre-right Heritage Foundation - expects that the greater divide may be over how to deal with Iran.

But the most obvious differences are style more than substance.

Can you picture the more serious Mr Brown standing at the podium next to Mr Bush - winking at reporters - joking about the kind of toothpaste they use?

In the final analysis the so-called "special relationship" has endured a change of leadership many times before.

It is also worth remembering that in the early days there were those who doubted that Mr Blair would get along with George Bush - particularly after Mr Blair and Mr Clinton appeared to be such political soulmates.

And how wrong they were!