Did Obama gain some respect in Europe because he LISTENED?
That has to be seen. He surely is more popular but being more popular doesn’t necessarily mean he’s better. Europeans have a totally different view on politics than us. There’s no huge spectacle about it. It’s business. That’s one reason why you can seriously alienate a European when you invite him over during election. It’s kinda like super bowl. Bush’s problem with the Europeans was not that he was not popular. He was considered a slacker before 9/11 and his support on and shortly after 9/11 was much higher than I had expected from his poor performance. Many don’t know but European AWACS patrolled our borders in the days after 9/11. That Bush became a no-go person in Europe is based on the fact that he didn’t get what he wanted from them in Iraq and he basically hit them with a club in the face. And that’s something people tend to take personal.
There is no way of knowing if the US president was successful in his visit to Europe and we will not know for a long time. He appeared to listen whether he heard or not is a different matter. There is no training course for a US president or for that matter British Prime Minister and the only qualification seems to be to be able to listen to advice and requests and the ability to decide which is the best option, and indeed the wisest advisers. . Sadly ithink G.W.B was deficient in this. I don’t know about elsewhere in Europe but his wife Michelle seemed to hit the spot in UK with her warm and natural reactions in public. She’s a great lady and the Yanks are lucky to have her.
