Talk Elections

Most Europeans I know over here have assumed Obama would be re-elected - though I have shared my deep fears with them all along.  Among the Thais - they care little, but always assumed that Obama would be defeated by Romney because of Romney's 'white skin' and because Obama 'is black'.  So, I have a feeling in Asia they will be quite satisfied, but I wonder about the reaction in Europe:  Will you all feel satisfied that American has again shat itself at the garden party (so that you can feel rightly superior) or will you feel a genuine horror?

Not only are you certifiably insane, but your snide insinuation that only Europeans (and not Asians) can have legitimate political opinions is the vilest, most offensive sentiment I have seen so far on the board, albeit quite representative of the typical snobby Western expat. Blocked.

Dude, I'm not insinuating anything, I'm just repeating anecdotes.  Though the insinuation is also accurate.  What do you mean 'blocked'?

More bemusement I think. Don't think people are terrified of Romney (although possibly because, as you say, they've assumed Obama would win easily.)

I meant horror at what Americans are more than horror at Romney (after all you lived through Bush, more or less).

Dunno, don't think people are really that shocked after Bush was elected twice :)

Good point.  Here I was thinking I was the ultimate pessimist about americans - having grown up (ever so painfully) amongst them - but it is inevitably the Parisian man-on-the-street who has the most accurate perception of the american:

()

Ignored. There's no reason for me to ever converse with someone who believes my ethnicity precludes my ability to think. We're done here.

Dude, I only represented the fact that most Asians think America is racist.  I don't see how that reflects badly on them.  True, the fact that not very many of them seem to mind it might reflect badly, but maybe it just means they keep to their own business.

You're too sensitive.

If Obama loses, I don't think people here will automatically connect it with race, as he was elected once by Americans. People will just be rather amazed that the party of Bush is back in power after one single term.

Desperation.

Interesting, thanks. More of a continuing astonishment about their utter lack of class consciousness or even any kind of consciousness at all, than horror at their racism.

For my part a mix of both; Romney's obviously awful but it wouldn't in the least surprise me to see another useless liberal removed because he couldn't even enthuse anyone to support him in spite of that prospect.

Honestly mild bemusement, the truth are that while Romney comes across as a general unsympathic person and lacking in political integrity and stand points, he do not come across as a lunatic or idiot. I personal think of him as a less personal disgusting version of Berlusconi.So in best case he turn out to completely lacking back bones and doesn't push his tax reforms through. In worst case he force it through with increasing American deficit as result. But even in the worst case, it won't be a disaster for other than USA. Romney unfunded tax cuts will put large amount of capital into the economy in the short term, which if we're lucky will finally pull us out of the financial crisis. Of course USA will be knee deep in sh**t somewhere into the future thanks to the bigger deficit, but somewhere down the road we can be lucky and the American politicians wake up and deal with the problem before it get too big to solve.

It is a mere freak-show amusement for us while we watch on lying passively on our couches dangling a bunch of grapes just above our mouth.

At least, it beats Emmerdale.

What's Emmerdale, some Irish horse racing or something like that?


That's not how it works, ingemann - the whole world include the US is awash in a vast sea of un-utilized capital.  What is missing is demand, not capital.  A tax cut would have absolutely no positive effect.

A complex mix of those two emotions.

Yes. It's been a weird election for me, personally, because Romney disgusts me on such a visceral level that it's hard for me to comprehend that he's polling higher than the low single digits.

To me, that (not the visceral level, but the hard to comprehend part) goes for most people in the world who've ever won an election.

No one in the UK seems to get why people would vote for the GOP in general.

Not the Old , libertarian GOP, but since 2000, it's been getting harder. Probably about 40% of Tory and UKIP supporters would go for Obama.
The mainstream European media (ie BBC) often unfairly portrays the majority of the modern Republican party as a far right authoritarian christians, when that's really just a few of them.