WTF Is It Now?!?

Quote from the convention
"John [Kerry] is a war hero who understands that America's strength comes from many sources - especially the power of ideas. He knows that a true leader inspires hope and vanquishes fear. This administration does neither."

- Senator Ted Kennedy, 7/27/04.

 
In Europe, passionate cheering for John Kerry

Most European historians and political pundits agree that it has been a long time, at least a generation, since the world has felt so consumed with passion about an American election, and since so many have been so hopeful of regime change in Washington.

[I]f the winner is Kerry, who is perceived as having a multilateral and internationalist approach to diplomacy, he said, the European Union is more likely to develop ‘‘in concert’’ with the United States, to look to it as a partner in the economy and security and to focus on what the two sides of the Atlantic have in common.

Europeans hold a very negative view of this White House. The Economist magazine published a poll this year that showed only 6 percent of Europeans held a positive view of Bush.  But this loathing of Bush in Europe is about more than just popularity ratings among a world constituency that has no vote in America. It is also a matter of policy.

It is no secret that the UN is approaching Iraq with great caution, leaving some political analysts to suggest that European leaders are dragging their feet to punish Bush or at least deny him the chance to use an international effort in Iraq to boost his campaign.

- snipped from the International Herald Tribune.