The Washington Post dubbed Europe "Obama country" in a news report focusing on Mitt Romney’s overseas trip, which kicks off today.
The report, which fondly recalls the swooning crowds of Europeans who turned out for Obama’s 2008 European romp, purports to explain what it claims is Romney’s lukewarm reception:
As the Democratic presidential hopeful in 2008, Barack Obama’s visit to Europe ahead of the election drew saturation media coverage and massive crowds — including 250,000 people for a landmark speech in Berlin — that cemented the senator from Illinois’s rock-star status in the grand capitals of the Old World. Four years later, President Obama, although somewhat off his peak, still receives approval ratings of 80 percent or higher in Britain, France and Germany.
In contrast, as Romney arrives for a week-long run through Britain and Poland, with a trip to Israel in between, the Republican presidential candidate remains relatively unknown in Europe. His first stop in London has received miserly coverage in the back pages of British newspapers, where he is often characterized by his wealth and Mormon religion. Over the course of an hour in this city’s busy Paddington Station this week, eight of 15 people stopped by a reporter were not sure who Romney was.
Obama is not only beloved by Europeans; he also philosophically resembles one of the continent’s newest socialist leaders, French President Francois Hollande, the New York Times reported.