Paper Monitor
12:26 UK time, Monday, 28 July 2008
A service highlighting the riches of the daily press.
It does not require a planet-brain to tell Gordon Brown and Just-call-me-Dave Cameron apart. Not least because Paper Monitor is hard pressed to come up with a suitable diminutive for Gordon that does what Dave does for David.
And in the papers today are compare and contrast photos of Gordon and Dave on their respective seaside holidays.
Dave 'n' Samantha Cameron do the "we cut our modelling teeth on Boden catalogues" look: sunshine - check; bare feet - check; good hair - check; holding hands - check. He sports shorts short enough to display his cyclist's calves, but not much more; she a long skirt, a length that is both modish and forgiving of the pale/hastily shaved legs a busy working mum may wish to hide.
The Times notes that the Camerons - buoyed by favourable poll ratings - "take a relaxed approach to their holiday attire while the Prime Minister and Sarah Brown opt for smart casual".
Gordon and Sarah look more like substitute teachers than long-in-the-tooth Boden models. It's a look that has worked for Paper Monitor all these years, but this column rarely finds its choice of outfit picked over for "what your clothes say about you" articles.
Unlike the Browns in their sensible leather shoes and neatly ironed outfits. The Daily Mail sets off "Jacketed in Norfolk" v "Informal in Cornwall".
And under the headline "That's the way to do it when you're on holiday", the Daily Telegraph recruits brand consultants to assess the rivals.
One says that the Camerons chose their clothes and location - a sunny, sandy beach - to great effect while the Browns "simply appeared uncomfortable". But the other says that the prime minister "plainly isn't someone who enjoys dressing down so it is better for him to try to look right rather than look too relaxed and stupid". Because imagine the headlines if Mr Brown appeared before the cameras in shorts...
The 
