Labour has officially lost the election.

There's a week still to go on the campaign trail, and one more television debate tomorrow, but Gordon Brown today sealed his own fate and that of his party. His mic was still on as he left a voter meet and greet in Lancashire and he was heard calling a woman he had spoken to there "bigoted." See the story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8649853.stm

As though Labour didn't already have enough problems.

They've been polling at third place for two weeks now, following Nick Clegg's stellar performance in the first debate.

Thirteen years of government is a lot of weight for a party and a prime minister to carry, but Brown just never seemed to have the personality expected out of a modern leader. I cringe writing that, as though being the head of a government only boils down to your soundbites and spin ability, but unfortunately a lot of politics has become that. Brown's predecessor Blair defined that new standard for Britain.

What's funny is that I don't necessarily disagree with Brown's reaction. Politicians have to deal with people and demands constantly, and the woman probably wouldn't take his pat answers and move on so that he himself could move on to the next show. Calling someone bigoted when you're in private and pissed off seems extremely mild, in all reality.

What I do disagree with is the public backlash he is already receiving. The man admits it was a mistake (probably moreso leaving on his mic than saying "bigoted"). Honestly, who should care if Brown insults a woman? The woman, probably. It's Brown's job to run the country and meanwhile fight off two other parties that are already threatening his and Labour's future status. He's bound to feel pressure.

But the point is that every tiny incident can matter in the grand scheme of electoral battles where the Author Function means just as much, or likely more than the shape a candidate's actual policies.

Therein lies the sad realization that our politicians are only actors in our own time to be judged by history as either leaders or failures only after the benefit of hindsight bias. They are painters whose works can only be admired long after the man is dead and the medium is long since outdated.