Do Americans really hate Europe that much?

Posted By Joshua Keating Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - 12:51 PM Share

Back in June, shortly after Mitt Romney's entry into the race, I wrote a short piece noting the anti-European rhetoric in Mitt Romney's announcement of his candidacy, and predicting that Republicans would try to pain the president as a Brussels bureaucrat. After all, the "European" charge is a one-stop-shop shorthand for socialist economic policies, timidity in foreign affairs, and suggesting that there's something not-quite-American about the president without getting into dangerous racial territory.

Judging by last night's New Hampshire victory speech, Romney is doubling down on this line of attack:

“President Obama wants to ‘fundamentally transform’ America. We want to restore America to the founding principles that made this country great.

“He wants to turn America into a European-style entitlement society. We want to ensure that we remain a free and prosperous land of opportunity.

“This president takes his inspiration from the capitals of Europe; we look to the cities and small towns of America.

And later:

“I want you to remember when our White House reflected the best of who we are, not the worst of what Europe has become.

On MSNBC this morning, Chris Matthews thought this was an effective tactic, saying something to the effect of, "A lot of Americans have done their European vacations. They thought the French were rude to them and Venice smells." (This isn't an exact quote. The clip isn't posted yet.)

But I'm still not quite convinced that Americans are that hostile to Europe. Granted, this hasn't been a great year for the European economic model, but it hasn't exactly been a great one for the American economic model either. As Andrew Sullivan notes, Americans probably wouldn't mind Germany's unemployment rate. 

Americans may not want to live in Europe, but they don't really hate it. A 2009 Pew Research Center poll found that 77 percent of Americans have favorable views of Britain, 66 percent for Germany and 62 percent for France. (The French number nearly doubled since 2003 when tensions were high over the Iraq War.)

Granted these numbers are from before the worst of the financial crisis (Although another poll released this year found that 55 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the E.U.) but I'm still not sure that U.S. hostility toward Europe -- particularly in the general electorate -- is as palpable as Romney seems to think it is.

Also, does Romney really want to come into office having spent his entire campaign bashing longtime U.S. allies?

Mike Hewitt/ALLSPORT

EXPLORE:2012 ELECTION POSTER 3, ELECTION 2012, MITT ROMNEY
 

SHACKELFORD

3:00 PM ET

January 11, 2012

Talk about slanderous push journalism

You know, there is a world of difference between not wanting to take "inspiration from the capitals of Europe" and actually hating Europe. Most Americans can like Europe and Europeans (as your poll reference notes) yet still believe that some (or many) of their policies are misguided.

Can you wear your anti-Republican biases a little further out on your sleeve? You know, most conservatives aren't Neanderthals, nor are we hateful rednecks. By merely posing this question the way you do, you are pushing a loaded stereotype for partisan gain.

Thankfully, the average American has a better understanding of basic vocabulary than DC journalists.

 

ISAACAKIRA

4:02 PM ET

January 11, 2012

But...

But this what exactly we can infer from Romney's speech. And that's from foreigner point of view.

 

SHACKELFORD

5:45 PM ET

January 11, 2012

Infer being the key word

You are reading something into Romney's speech that simply isn't there. It is completely possible to respect someone with whom you have a disagreement. Oversensitivity and conflating a policy disagreement with "hate" is dangerous, and detrimental to the very concept of Democracy.

 

SWEETYTWEETY

9:55 AM ET

January 13, 2012

NOAM SCHEIBER of the New

NOAM SCHEIBER of the New Republic, musing on a possible pitfall of Barack Obama's trip through Europe:

If there's any risk to Obama, it's that the trip goes too well. The German press has touted polls showing that 72 percent of Germans would vote for Obama if given the chance. Very sweet, and I'm sure Obama is flattered and all. Except that there is a not-insignificant number of Americans who would reject Jesus Christ as their savior if 72 percent of Europeans were on board.

Very funny, and not totally crazy. There probably are at least a few Americans who think this way. But I suspect that they are not legion. Most of them probably write conservative opinion-columns, or at least have a blog.

As for the unwashed masses out there, I don't think they wonder about what Europe thinks very frequently. When they do, they may be residually grumpy that France and Germany (what Americans think of when they think of "Europe"—Hungary's support for the Iraq war is not on their mental map) opposed the war. They boycotted French wine briefly.

But they probably also (if they paid any attention) heard that a pretty pro-American president was elected in France not long ago, and a conservative German chancellor too. And when they think of Europe, they may also remember, with pride, stories of their fathers or grandfathers' liberation and rebuilding of Europe, and the sincere gratitude of Europeans. Marshall Plan, Berlin airlift, smiling French girls, all that golden age before De Gaulle stalked out of NATO's unified command.

Americans want America to be loved, not feared and loathed, whatever Machiavelli might instruct them.NOAM SCHEIBER of the New Republic, musing on a possible pitfall of Barack Obama's trip through Europe:

If there's any risk to Obama, it's that the trip goes too well. The German press has touted polls showing that 72 percent of Germans would vote for Obama if given the chance. Very sweet, and I'm sure Obama is flattered and all. Except that there is a not-insignificant number of Americans who would reject Jesus Christ as their savior if 72 percent of Europeans were on board.

Very funny, and not totally crazy. There probably are at least a few Americans who think this way. But I suspect that they are not legion. Most of them probably write conservative opinion-columns, or at least have a blog.

As for the unwashed masses out there, I don't think they wonder about what Europe thinks very frequently. When they do, they may be residually grumpy that France and Germany (what Americans think of when they think of "Europe"—Hungary's support for the Iraq war is not on their mental map) opposed the war. They boycotted French wine briefly.

But they probably also (if they paid any attention) heard that a pretty pro-American president was elected in France not long ago, and a conservative German chancellor too. And when they think of Europe, they may also remember, with pride, stories of their fathers or grandfathers' liberation and rebuilding of Europe, and the sincere gratitude of Europeans. Marshall Plan, Berlin airlift, smiling French girls, all that golden age before De Gaulle stalked out of NATO's unified command.

Americans want America to be loved, not feared and loathed, whatever Machiavelli might instruct them.NOAM SCHEIBER of the New Republic, musing on a possible pitfall of Barack Obama's trip through Europe:

If there's any risk to Obama, it's that the trip goes too well. The German press has touted polls showing that 72 percent of Germans would vote for Obama if given the chance. Very sweet, and I'm sure Obama is flattered and all. Except that there is a not-insignificant number of Americans who would reject Jesus Christ as their savior if 72 percent of Europeans were on board.

Very funny, and not totally crazy. There probably are at least a few Americans who think this way. But I suspect that they are not legion. Most of them probably write conservative opinion-columns, or at least have a blog.

As for the unwashed masses out there, I don't think they wonder about what Europe thinks very frequently. When they do, they may be residually grumpy that France and Germany (what Americans think of when they think of "Europe"—Hungary's support for the Iraq war is not on their mental map) opposed the war. They boycotted French wine briefly.

But they probably also (if they paid any attention) heard that a pretty pro-American president was elected in France not long ago, and a conservative German chancellor too. And when they think of Europe, they may also remember, with pride, stories of their fathers or grandfathers' liberation and rebuilding of Europe, and the sincere gratitude of Europeans. Marshall Plan, Berlin airlift, smiling French girls, all that golden age before De Gaulle stalked out of NATO's unified command.

Americans want America to be loved, not feared and loathed, whatever Machiavelli might instruct them.NOAM SCHEIBER of the New Republic, musing on a possible pitfall of Barack Obama's trip through Europe:

If there's any risk to Obama, it's that the trip goes too well. The German press has touted polls showing that 72 percent of Germans would vote for Obama if given the chance. Very sweet, and I'm sure Obama is flattered and all. Except that there is a not-insignificant number of Americans who would reject Jesus Christ as their savior if 72 percent of Europeans were on board.

Very funny, and not totally crazy. There probably are at least a few Americans who think this way. But I suspect that they are not legion. Most of them probably write conservative opinion-columns, or at least have a blog.

As for the unwashed masses out there, I don't think they wonder about what Europe thinks very frequently. When they do, they may be residually grumpy that France and Germany (what Americans think of when they think of "Europe"—Hungary's support for the Iraq war is not on their mental map) opposed the war. They boycotted French wine briefly.

But they probably also (if they paid any attention) heard that a pretty pro-American president was elected in France not long ago, and a conservative German chancellor too. And when they think of Europe, they may also remember, with pride, stories of their fathers or grandfathers' liberation and rebuilding of Europe, and the sincere gratitude of Europeans. Marshall Plan, Berlin airlift, smiling French girls, all that golden age before De Gaulle stalked out of NATO's unified command.

Americans want America to be loved, not feared and loathed, whatever Machiavelli might instruct them.NOAM SCHEIBER of the New Republic, musing on a possible pitfall of Barack Obama's trip through Europe:

If there's any risk to Obama, it's that the trip goes too well. The German press has touted polls showing that 72 percent of Germans would vote for Obama if given the chance. Very sweet, and I'm sure Obama is flattered and all. Except that there is a not-insignificant number of Americans who would reject Jesus Christ as their savior if 72 percent of Europeans were on board.

Very funny, and not totally crazy. There probably are at least a few Americans who think this way. But I suspect that they are not legion. Most of them probably write conservative opinion-columns, or at least have a blog.

As for the unwashed masses out there, I don't think they wonder about what Europe thinks very frequently. When they do, they may be residually grumpy that France and Germany (what Americans think of when they think of "Europe"—Hungary's support for the Iraq war is not on their mental map) opposed the war. They boycotted French wine briefly.

But they probably also (if they paid any attention) heard that a pretty pro-American president was elected in France not long ago, and a conservative German chancellor too. And when they think of Europe, they may also remember, with pride, stories of their fathers or grandfathers' liberation and rebuilding of Europe, and the sincere gratitude of Europeans. Marshall Plan, Berlin airlift, smiling French girls, all that golden age before De Gaulle stalked out of NATO's unified command.

Americans want America to be loved, not feared and loathed, whatever Machiavelli might instruct them.NOAM SCHEIBER of the New Republic, musing on a possible pitfall of Barack Obama's trip through Europe:

If there's any risk to Obama, it's that the trip goes too well. The German press has touted polls showing that 72 percent of Germans would vote for Obama if given the chance. Very sweet, and I'm sure Obama is flattered and all. Except that there is a not-insignificant number of Americans who would reject Jesus Christ as their savior if 72 percent of Europeans were on board.

Very funny, and not totally crazy. There probably are at least a few Americans who think this way. But I suspect that they are not legion. Most of them probably write conservative opinion-columns, or at least have a blog.

As for the unwashed masses out there, I don't think they wonder about what Europe thinks very frequently. When they do, they may be residually grumpy that France and Germany (what Americans think of when they think of "Europe"—Hungary's support for the Iraq war is not on their mental map) opposed the war. They boycotted French wine briefly.

But they probably also (if they paid any attention) heard that a pretty pro-American president was elected in France not long ago, and a conservative German chancellor too. And when they think of Europe, they may also remember, with pride, stories of their fathers or grandfathers' liberation and rebuilding of Europe, and the sincere gratitude of Europeans. Marshall Plan, Berlin airlift, smiling French girls, all that golden age before De Gaulle stalked out of NATO's unified command.

Americans want America to be loved, not feared and loathed, whatever Machiavelli might instruct them.
Thanks
Travel to Europe and see your self. ;)

 

WEBCARDIFF11

8:51 AM ET

January 16, 2012

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