The "League of Democracies" prefers Obama—by a lot!

WORLD NEWS: "Europeans Much Prefer Obama: Polls Show Support Across Continent; U.S. More Liked, Too," by John D. McKinnon, John W. Miller and Marc Champion, Wall Street Journal, 9 June 2008, p. A10.

Polling data saying that if the election is held in Europe, Obama wins in a landslide.

Comments

[Galrahn]

I guess I'd be more excited, if I was able to look at any European country and long for something, anything they have better than us.

This is not an endorsement for or against McCain or Obama, I just feel like with those two, America hasn't put forth our best.

[outback71]

For thousands of people in places like Omaha, Cheyenne, and Topeka this as an excellent endorsement of McCain. If we really wanted Europe to pass judgment on our choice of leaders, would Adams, Franklin and Jefferson had even bothered with that Declaration thingy?

[Anonymous]

i agree with both of your points (well Outback's first half), but i think you've missed the the main one: we need to rebuild international good will. we need to lead the world as globalization revolutionizes it (major theme of GP). after Bush's extreme unilateralism, we need to play a little nicer, regain a little more good will. so, while Europe's opinion is far from the decisive issue in this campaign, it is worth noting.

[stuart abrams]

I tend to agree - who cares? My hunch is that by the next election, the results will be very different - Europe faces massive immigration, growth of Islamist political parties, possibly more terrorism, European Lou Dobbses come to the forefront and you will see Europeans wanting to see a militarist US. And, if the next President does what he ought to do and moves towards closer ties with the New Core, especially China, you could well see quite a bit of tension coming into the US/EU relationship. Since I think Obama is far more likely than McCain to move in that direction, I think there is a real possiblity of seeing his popularity plunge, especially in "Old Europe."

[outback71]

Agree with Sean's point about bolstering our image....but image isn't everything. But President Obama will have to govern with an eye towards American public opinion...in places like Winnemucca, DesPlains and Erie. That's likely to clash with what the Europeans envisage Obama to be. In this case expectations may prove disastrous.

[large]

We need to solidify the American Dollar, and although McCain is no Economist, he's got a better chance than Obama's socialist programs of entitlement that will cost the Americans hundreds of billions that we don't have . . and the Europeans and Russians will own this country . . that's why they like him . . .

Unless the Chinese decide to foreclose . .

[Galrahn]

"we need to rebuild international good will."

I don't disagree we need to shift our standing with Europe, but I don't think "Europe's opinion" of us is as big of a problem as it is made out to be.

Said another way, I don't think the problem really has much to do with reputation, rather I see the problem to be solved as meeting the high expectations that Europe always has of the United States. Public opinion is a measured reflection of perception, but meeting expectations requires the application of substance.

And that is what bothers me about these two candidates, I'm concerned that while both have the potential to improve the perception of the US, neither gives me hope for bringing forward the substance to really improve the relationship.

[3tg972yt57yt0]

People in other countries don't want us to do what is good for us, they want us to do what is good for them.

[Jarrod Myrick]

stuart/sean,

is this not zero sum logic on your part here--granted the nature of hyperbolic blogspeak but uk and france aren't leaving the unscanytime soon (thankfully) and kouchner and miliband are just what we needed: let me try to make myself clear: why must we choose new core over old core? why not both/all? we need a shortstop and second baseman, power-hitting corner infielders and outfielders, catcher, centerfielder, pitching, coaching, and a farm system that produces top-shelf talent into infinity.

new core v old core limits potential solutions to the massive, global challenges. surely you're paying attention to what sarkozy has been not only saying but doing. i expect the eurotrashing from the usual suspects but i fear too many seem to be falling into useless, empty, dangerous, destructive groupthink: the next thing you know "saddam might have nukes"/"saddam might have helped bin laden" become facts.

i highly value your opinions and respect your points-of-view butdon't like your current drift. everywhere i turn tribalism reeks.



galrahn,

their soccer's (just a little) better for one. and, by the way, if this isn't america putting its best men forward then who are its best men? would you have preferred guiliani romney huckabee thompsonpaul brownback tancredo over mccain or clinton edwards biden richardson dodd kucinich over obama? who is your ideal candidate?a hall-of-fame quarterback completes roughly 60% of his passes not 100%. when ted williams hit 400 he was not getting a hit 60% of the time.

[stuart abrams]

Jarrod-Good point - the internet is great for speed, not necessarily depth. You are right, Old Core v. New Core should not be either/or. However, I do think that Western Europe is going to be going through some major transitions during the next decade or so. The demographics (recent story in NYT Magazine) show shrinking population, and the demands for more labor will make significant immigration inevitable. I think that this will cause enormous socio-political changes in Western Europe, and strain a lot of the secular/liberal aspects of European society. The UK seems to be pretty far along in dealing with this, and it may be able to make the transition pretty seamlessly. I think that is a lot less likely for some of the places on the continent, which seem to be clueless in dealing with diversity. Ultimately, I think this will be a good thing for everybody, and Europeans will adapt to a world in which the Chinese, Indians, Africans, Latinos, etc. are just as important as they are - culturally, economically, politically. However, in the short run, I think that it is more important for the US to become much closer to the New Core powers, and I suspect that this will unavoidably lead to some tension in our relationships with the Old Core - of course we should try to minimize it, but we've gotta do what we've gotta do. I like your sports analogies. Maybe the Old Core is sort of like an aging great hitter that's got a cranky hamstring and is looking at a bad slump. You might have to bench him until he works it out and see what the new kid called up from AAA can do, even if the old guy's pride is hurt for a while.

[Anonymous]

i won't cop to that, jarrod. didn't say they were. i said their responses to our candidates are worth noting.

[kledon]

As a British citizen, I would most certainly agree that Obama is more popular over here. I think a lot of McCain gets lost in translation, and just ends up coming across as Bush 2.0.

large - I don't quite think that Bush has been creating 'programs of entitlement' over the last eight years, and look at the size of the U.S. debt.

[Brad B.]

Call it "good will" or whatever, but I don't buy this whole "ruined" US image thing we've been hearing for 8 years. Explain to me how pro-US politicians have been getting elected around the globe in countries that are supposed to be hostile to us such as Germany, Italy, France and Canada (to name just a few).

Yet have we ever been told the world "loved" the USA at any point in our lifetimes? I grew up hearing how the world hated the US during Regan (at best, we were equal to the USSR) and read about how Nixon was treated during overseas visits. One would think that other than a brief post-WW2 period, the US has always been the world's villain.

The way I see it, the world doesn't hate us, the world's Left does. And they happen to control most of the media over there. Much of it state run.

Either way, the DNC should hope nothing comes of this. Having Brits calling Ohio voters to tell them to vote for Kerry didn't go over too well. I assume the Palestinians who called primary voters urging votes for Obama didn't help either. Neither case was the fault of Obama or Kerry, but it can't help.

Jarrod, you have to be kidding about the soccer. It's only watchable when viewing in Fast Forward on the Tivo. Sweden does have a nice hockey program though. ;)

[Jarrod Myrick]

sa,

points well-taken: speed and depth not easy to do which makes dr. b's daily analysissss's all the more amazing. i say drop old core down in the batting order and move up new core. how do we get gap out of extended spring training?

sm,

passive-aggressive tendencies some time get the best of me but stillfeel you gave credence to silly jingo-ing. of course america's the bestbut must we tattoo the stars-and-stripes on our foreheads?

bb,

you must've missed the uefa final in moscow, an all england final: the talent, skill and athleticism on display incredible. not to mentionpassion on the fans. truly unforgettable. but prestige matters doesindeed matter and fortunately the "power is power" moment is over, hopefully for good. the puritans have had their, now we'll have ours.we have better ideas and balls as big as theirs. some girls are bigger than others.

[Jarrod Myrick]

(turn at bat)