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| Europe |
| Romney's strong debate showing puts Europe on edge |
| 2012-10-04 |
| President Barack Obama's lackluster performance in the first U.S. election debate provoked uneasiness in European capitals on Thursday, where hopes are mostly, if unofficially, pinned on his securing a second term. While a lot can change before the November 6 vote, and Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney will go head to head twice more before then, polling conducted immediately after the debate showed Romney came out overwhelmingly on top. A flash poll by CNN showed 67 percent of viewers thought Romney had 'won', with just 25 percent for Obama. Intrade, an online prediction market, cut Obama's re-election prospects from 74 percent to 66 percent. In Europe, where leaders and finance officials have worked closely with the Obama administration over the past 2-1/2 years trying to resolve the euro area debt crisis, there was particular consternation at Romney's singling out of deficit-ridden Spain as a poorly administered economy. "Romney is making analogies that aren't based on reality," Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo told reporters after a meeting of his centre-right party. Leading Spanish daily El Pais highlighted the fact that Spain was the only European country mentioned, and contrasted Romney's negative depiction of it with Obama's praise for Spain's renewable energy policies during the 2008 campaign. "Spain has never been mentioned in a presidential debate as a symbol of failure," the left-leaning newspaper lamented. "What happened last night makes history. And not in a good way." Political commentators in France and Germany registered surprise at Obama's underwhelming performance, saying the election could be much tighter as a result. "Obama showed a lack of desire to be president, which could put him on shaky ground as a presidential candidate," said liberal German news magazine Der Spiegel. "It's now clear that to get back into the White House the U.S. president needs running shoes, not flip-flops." France's Le Monde appeared equally surprised by Obama's sub-par performance. "Where did the favorite go?" it asked on its front page, with a headline below saying: "Obama fails his first televised debate against an incisive Romney." |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #10 A President that respects his true allies ie UK,Australia,NZ,Canada would be a start before Europe. |
| Posted by: Fester Clunter7205 2012-10-04 15:07 |
| #9 "Romney is making analogies that aren't based on reality" How would you know, Jose? You haven't lived in reality in decades, if ever. Shorter version of these clowns' whining: "But, but, but we haven't finished looting the American's bank accounts yet! We've already looted everything we can from our own |
| Posted by: Barbara 2012-10-04 13:26 |
| #8 Oh, that's not probably what is REALLY terrifying them. The fabric of liberal reality is maintained by compliance to a regime of unequal judgment. I was most impressed with Mitt's quiet, but persistent and eventually successful challenge of the moderator's biases. Reagan undermined it quietly, but Mitt's storming the gates. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2012-10-04 13:03 |
| #7 To Europe: Whaaaaaa From: USA |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2012-10-04 12:51 |
| #6 “I endeavor to give satisfaction, Sir.” |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2012-10-04 12:23 |
| #5 Well yes g(r)om. Thanks for the correction. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-10-04 12:19 |
| #4 Don't you mean God-King, Besoeker? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2012-10-04 12:14 |
| #3 If the Zero loses then Helicopter Ben is getting a pink slip too. Helicopter Ben is funding the EUSSR bailouts. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2012-10-04 12:13 |
| #2 "Obama showed a lack of desire to be president, which could put him on shaky ground as a presidential candidate," said liberal German news magazine Der Spiegel. Of course he he's not interested in being president. In the finest traditions of Shaka kaSenzangakhona, his desire is to be emperor. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2012-10-04 12:08 |
| #1 Be afraid, be very afraid! |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2012-10-04 11:57 |