President Barack Obama's campaign may well be in trouble in the United States, but he still is adored by many foreigners. The mainstream media want us to know that and today's Chicago Tribune print edition carries two separate pieces to emphasize it. One, appearing on page 3, is "The American way, seen through English eyes," an interview with a British reporter covering the election from Chicago. Asked who Brits favor, Laura Harding replies:
It's probably a pretty safe bet to say that we're much keener on Obama than on Romney, just because he seems far more in line with general British politics than Romney. Things like Obamacare are very much in line with the kind of health care system we have in the U.K.
Just in case readers missed the point, page 17 includes "Europe: Not a swing continent," a dispatch from Henry Chu, the Los Angeles Times's London bureau chief. That article notes:
A survey of seven European nations, including longtime U.S. allies Britain and France, has found that Obama would win more than 90% of the vote if the respondents could cast ballots in Tuesday’s race.
Old Europe has a heritage of autocrats, dictators, welfare statism and forced redistribution of wealth. Many Europeans, propelled in some cases by envy, hold an antipathy for America and what it represents.
Given all that, it's to be expected that a majority of polled Europeans would be attracted to a candidate advocating a command economy while he finds fault with free enterprise, not to mention his own country.
So while Obama has difficulty maintaining a 50 percent approval rating here, the mainstream media point to how well he does among foreigners. If only those darn Americans were as smart. Since they aren't, they have to be reminded with two stories on the same topic in the same newspaper on the same day.
