BY ANY standards Nicola Sturgeon has delivered another barnstorming performance.
What she achieved in the UK General Election leaders' debates, she has now managed on a visit to the United States.
But behind all the glad-handing and media appearances, the First Minister has also marked a clear policy shift from the approach of her predecessor. Out has gone the arc of prosperity, and in has come the German economic miracle. She has signalled that Scotland does not want to be a big sister to Iceland or Ireland, but a little sister to Germany, a champion of bilateral relations in the workplace in contrast to the Conservative Government's determination to finish the job of crushing the trade unions.
There is no doubt that Ms Sturgeon acquitted herself well in the media and in high-level meetings in the US. Whether her chat with Jon Stewart on the Daily Show was more or less significant than her discussions with Christine Lagarde of the International Monetary Fund is a matter of opinion. The point is that our First Minister shifted effortlessly between these engagements.
In fairness, the doors were more open to Ms Sturgeon than to her predecessor because time has healed the wounds of the decision to release on compassionate grounds the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing. For all Alex Salmond revelled in going to the US and blowing the trumpet for golf and tourism he found doors closed to him as a result of that decision.
In this, as in so many other regards, Ms Sturgeon has been able to make a fresh start and it shows in her confidence, whether taking on someone as sharp as the host of the Daily Show, or in setting out a new vision of how Scotland's economy should develop.
It would appear the the First Minister has been persuaded that previous arguments about lowering Corporation Tax as a "race to the bottom" should no longer be the main focus of economic policy. Instead, she is focusing on the idea that successful economies operate best when good industrial relations are encouraged and the goal is a more equal society.
This is not a brand new departure. The SNP has been cosying up to the STUC for years, not least as a way of breaking Labour's hegemony in that sector and Alex Salmond himself was in the forefront of that strategy.
But Ms Sturgeon took this to a new level in praising so-called "Rhine capitalism", saying: "It encouraged competitive markets, but combined them with strong social protections. It instilled a strong sense of partnership between workers, trade unions, businesses and public sector. As a result, the German economy has been characterised by innovation, high productivity and strong exports."
This tells us the way she sees Scotland competing with her largest neighbour in years to come, a very different approach from that of Chancellor Osborne looking to complete the marginalisation of trade unions from the economic scene and giving free rein to measures which will increase the gap between the haves and have-nots.
If Ms Sturgeon can pull this off it could put her stamp on both the society and the economy North of the Border. It could also be the final nail in Labour's coffin.
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