Rachel Marsden
The people of
The French aren't particularly interested in appearing too keen on America, either. A
When this modern-day underground French Resistance of 10 percent who dared to admit a preference for Romney (at great risk of being blacklisted from Parisian soirées) were asked to toss out some reasons why Romney was their choice, the most frequently occurring words included, in descending order of frequency: "Obama," "more," "change" and "did." So ironically, Romney now owns the term "change" -- at least in
Presumably, these 10 percent also have higher expectations than what they feel Obama has proven capable of delivering - hence the "more" reference - and credit Romney with a history of positive actions.
Those who would opt for another Obama term most frequently justified their choice with words like "president," "social," "did," "good" and "Romney." So Obama appears to benefit from already having his behind in the chair, from the fact that he isn't Romney, and for being seen as more social-welfare oriented. Also, they seem to think he "did" some "good" things.
But here's the kicker: While 60 percent of French Obama supporters feel "closer to Obama's values than those of
Among the president's supporters, French men prefer Obama's values more than French women do, 63 percent to 58 percent. And only 4 percent of those who prefer Obama say that it's because he's black, with the most uneducated demographic expressing the highest degree of racial preference. The same least-educated demographic -- those lacking a high school diploma -- was also most likely to believe that Obama has a better shot at achieving world peace. The most educated respondents -- those with more than two years of post-secondary schooling -- were least likely to consider Obama competent.
Perhaps the weirdest aspect of the Harris Poll results is that voters who preferred center-right former French President
Maybe this is a sign that the French center-right has a greater tolerance for, and understanding of, the complexities of governance, having witnessed and sympathized with Sarkozy's perpetual struggle to enact even the most moderate French reforms in a system locked down by special interest groups, various domestic and international realities, and the mentality of the people themselves.
Hollande supporters were least likely to find Obama competent -- mirroring a similar discontent in
The lesson? It's not easy to please leftists. Their concept of the world exists on a cloud of marijuana smoke. Their pet politicians, spun from cotton candy, regale them with warm thoughts and fuzzy feelings -- until reality comes along and douses the whole works, forcing them to wake up to a sticky mess.
It's a lesson the French left and their sympathizers clearly haven't learned.
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(c) 2012 Tribune Media Services