Mystery Obama Adviser: 'It's no longer going to be that we are in the lead and everyone follows us'

So nice to see Barack Obama reaching for great heights.

Here's another gaffe he'll have to explain away. That and having a clandestine fundraiser offshore hosted by Rupert Murdoch's daughter.

Barack Obama has called for the special relationship between the US and Britain to be "recalibrated" when he spoke to American expatriates in London.

The Democratic candidate said the relationship between the two countries needed to be made fairer and more equal as he made a telephone address to a fund-raising event in west London.

"We have a chance to recalibrate the relationship and for the United Kingdom to work with America as a full partner," the Illinois senator told more than 200 Americans gathered at the Notting Hill home of Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of media tycoon Rupert.

The event, which drew prominent expatriates from the arts and media, raised more than $400,000 for Mr Obama's presidential campaign.

A foreign policy adviser to the Obama campaign said of his remarks: "It's no longer going to be that we are in the lead and everyone follows us."

The foreign policy adviser isn't name.

I wonder how many on the left will melt down over the fact the evil Rupert Murdoch's daughter is hosting an Obama fundraiser?

More here.

The event, which raised more than $400,000 for the Obama campaign, was intended to be confidential, but several guests have since confirmed the senator's remarks. A foreign policy adviser to the Obama campaign said the remarks on the US-UK relationship reflected the senator's general foreign policy approach.

"It's no longer going to be that we are in the lead and everyone follows us. Full partners not only listen to each other, they also occasionally follow each other," the adviser said.

Obama's adviser wasn't the only empty head to say something stupid.

Co-hosting the event alongside Murdoch were Kay Saatchi, an art collector and former wife of Charles Saatchi, and Josh Berger, the head of Warner Bros in the UK and Ireland. Among the guests was David Schwimmer, the former Friends sitcom star. Gwyneth Paltrow was due to attend but opted instead to appear on a New York television talk show.

She sent a message that was read out at the event explaining that one of the main reasons she was supporting Obama was that he had a multiracial background, "a name like Barack Obama", and had lived outside the US. He therefore had "experience of other cultures" and was aware that the US could not operate as a lone global policeman, Paltrow said, according to guests at the event.

Maybe she's his foreign policy adviser.

Update: Either the Guardian and Daily Mail are two weeks late with this story or it's not the first time Obama has had a London fundraiser with Elisabeth Murdoch. This Telegraph item from two weeks ago seems to be very similar, though it doesn't include the adviser's remarks.

Maybe this is just one in a series.