BRIGHTON - It is tradition that foreign government's steer clear of commenting on American elections, in case they risk annoying the man they end up having to work with.
No such tact from Liberal Democrat president Tim Farron, who told party activists that Republican Mitt Romney's campaign for the presidency was a "failure" with less than two months to go until election day. "We can only hope it continues," he said.
However aware of his own party's standing with the British public after two and a half years in coalition with the Conservatives, Farron added: "Unlike the Lib Dems he has only managed to annoy 47% of the voters."
Farron then urged Lib Dems to fight to regain votes by invoking Barack Obama's famous campaign slogan: "Yes we can".
Given the Republican candidate's politics, it seems unlikely that the gift shop in Brighton is going to be shifting too many of these 'Liberal Democrats for Romney' mugs.
However the 'Liberal Democrats for Obama' mugs are probably going to prove a tad more popular, if not quite as much fun as the Nick Clegg 'I'm Sorry' cups.