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British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is on the campaign trail and he faces a tough battle on election day next week. Today, Brown, unaware that a microphone was switched on, referred to a potential voter as a “bigoted woman.” The prime minister was later forced to apologize. Anchor Marco Werman has details.

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MARCO WERMAN:  And an open microphone can be a very dangerous thing in politics.  Just ask British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.  He’s in the middle of a tight campaign ahead of Parliamentary elections next week, so he needs all the votes he can get.  Well, he may have lost one today.  After an encounter with retiree Gillian Duffy.  In front of the press, Brown struggled to answer her questions about unemployment and the impact of immigrants on the British economy.

GILLIAN DUFFY:  Well all these eastern Europeans that are coming in, where are they walking from?

WERMAN: It seemed a run-of-the-mill campaign moment.  And it was, until it was over.  That’s when Brown, unaware that his microphone was still started grousing about the exchange.

GORDON BROWN:  You can never put me with that woman.  Whose idea was that?  Everything, she just is a bigoted woman who said she used to be Labor, that’s ridiculous.

WERMAN: In case you missed it, he called Mrs. Duffy a “bigoted woman”.  Before the day was out, Mrs. Duffy was venting her outrage to the press.

DUFFY:  I’m very upset.

MALE VOICE 1:  Did you expect that from him?

DUFFY:  No.  He’s an educated person.  Why does he come out with words like that?

WERMAN: And Prime Minister Brown was forced to apologize after a long face-to-face meeting with Gillian Duffy herself.

BROWN:  Of course I apologize if I have said anything that has been offensive and I would never put myself . . .

WERMAN: Yes, you’ve heard this before, yadda, yadda, yadda.  And the worst part of all?  Gillian Duffy is a lifelong supporter of Gordon Brown’s Labour Party.  Now she says she’ll probably abstain.

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