The left-leaning government of Gerhard Schroeder got creamed in yesterday's European elections, signaling that, at least in Germany, a strong anti-American/Anti-Bush/Anti-Iraq stance hasn't done much to help the struggling Socialists.
In Britain, some on the left are crowing that Tony Blair's Labour Party got creamed, and it's generally acknowledged that his pro-Bush/Pro-America/Pro-Iraq war stance hurt his party. On the other hand, hidden in the numbers is the fact that the Conservatives, who supported the Iraq effort, picked up seats, as did the Independence party, which is an anti-European Union party. Thus making it appear that disgust with the Iraq war is the major driver of British politics has been mildly exaggerated; the Brits have more going on than this one issue.
On the other hand, polls are showing that a slight majority of Americans now disapprove of the President's handling of the Iraq conflict and think it was a mistake to go there, this for the first time ever. While it's a bit depressing to see Americans going wobbly at a time like this, I note that, hidden in all the polling numbers, is also the fact that many are busy disapproving simply becuase they believe we aren't fighting hard enough--and may therefore simply need assurance.
Those who like to gloat at their own country's defeat and believe that America has worked evil in Iraq should, therefore, refrain from kicking up their heels in glee.
Never mind the fact that the overtly anti-war parties did not do significantly better than normal (in fact in some cases worse). Plus RESPECT which is vehemently anti-war managed to get less than the (neo-NAZI) British National Party.
Yep.
But hope springs eternal when you want the fascists to win, I suppose.
The voters in Germany seem to have been motivated by economic problems according to several Euro bloggers I have seen. I wonder what impact the flight of US bases elsewhere will have on their anti-American views.
It saddens me to realise that all the young Germans I knew in the 60's have now forgotten how much they liked the Americans.
The European parliament election results were determined by domestic issues in almost all of the participating countries. In Germany, social security cuts were what lost Schröder's party the votes. Attitudes towards the USA had nothing to do with it either way.
For your information, the pro-war conservatives also lost votes, though less than Schröder's party. And the big winners were the Green Party (strictly anti-war) and to a lesser degree the Socialists (also strictly anti-war) and the Liberals (wishy-washy on that and most other issues).
Right, Cora. But it means that the benefits of taking a strongly anti-American stance were and are fleeting at best, and that voter sentiment is not as strong on these things as some would like us to believe.
Hmmm...wierd analysis, Mr. Esmay. If there is any connection at all to be made between the SPD's election losses and their position vis á vis America's (and, relatedly, Germany's) involvement in Iraq, it would be opposite to that which you stated: many Germans (and the German media types have commented on this ad nauseum over the last year or two) are annoyed by the perceived weakening of their government's anti-involvement stance. But, as someone else already stated, that would have been one of the least of their considerations. The reform of the social system, health-care reforms, exponentially rising unemployment, and huge national and regional debt are and have been the base issues being addressed here, on a national and regional level.
And please note that I said "anti-involvement", not "anti-American". It gives me the willies that no entity on the planet can express an opinion or assume a stance free of rah-rah gung-ho Amercanism without being labeled anti-American. That sort of finger-pointing, ya'll-are-just-hatin'-on-us name-calling does a disservice to the credibilty of the validity of any action an American (governmental) body might take.