Some think that Ohio will decide the presidential election. Others are watching Florida or North Carolina or Wisconsin. But if you really want to know who will win the White House in November, you should ask the Europeans. They aren't eligible to vote, but they may well cast the deciding ballot -- and for President Obama, it's looking grim.For all the chatter at home, the election won't be determined by fundraising, or Bain Capital, or Obamacare, or Mormonism, or birth certificates, or even crucial issues about taxes and spending. In the end, Obama will win if voters perceive the economy to be improving -- which it was until Europe's troubles stalled the recovery in recent months.
Seems like kind of a narrow view, Dana. Are you seeking a scapegoat for November? Already?
Yes indeed. It's all Spain's fault. Or Italy's. Or those shiftless Greeks. If it hadn't been for them we'd be creating those 500K jobs a month Joe Biden said we'd be creating. And if this excuse doesn't fly they'll come up with another one...
On this, Obama is helpless --
Perhaps the Post didn't mean that as they wrote it...
as evidenced by the White House statement Wednesday regarding his phone calls with European leaders. They "agreed on the importance of steps to strengthen the resilience of the euro zone and growth in Europe and globally, and agreed to remain in contact," the White House disclosed.
Europeans are in a stalemate -- paralyzed by disagreement and unable to act on the dire problems all around them. The denial is palpable here in Britain, where, in response to the crisis in the neighboring euro zone, manufacturing is plunging and growth has slowed almost to zero. Britons' disposable incomes are declining for the third straight year. A report this week found that British banks are sitting on $62 billion in undeclared losses. The same public discontent that has toppled governments on the continent has forced the conservative government here to reverse various austerity measures.
Obama has begun to blame weak employment reports in the United States on