Latest Presidential Polls Show Obama at 80 Percent, In Europe

As the U.S. elections are getting near, the anxiety about the results is moving across the Atlantic. In the sea of polls and analyses seen on a daily basis in the U.S. press, one of them has gone unnoticed. Namely, the German Marshall Fund, an organization for cooperation between the Old and the New Continent, which has published a poll conducted in the states of the European Union about the U.S. elections. If President Barack Obama were standing for re-election in Europe rather than the United States, he would romp to an easy victory over his Republican rival Mitt Romney, according to the results of a poll published today.

The citizens have been asked whom would they vote for if given a chance, and the results were striking. On the European level, current president Obama would be an absolute winner of the elections with 80% of the votes of the electorate. Moreover, his strongest supporters live in France, where he would win 92% of the vote.

Obama's election team would be thrilled to run in France, but that is not the case. After three debates, the winner of the elections still cannot be predicted. However, the European poll is interesting in many ways.

Having in mind that only 7% of the electorate in the U.S. considers foreign policy this year as a factor when making their choice among the candidates, it is not a surprise to learn that fund's poll did not receive a lot of attention. However, it is important to underline the importance of the elections for Europe and how anxious the Europeans are about the final result. 

It can be only imagined how hard it will be for Mitt Romney to visit Europe if he becomes president, after knowing that he has minimal support here. Romney's rating was hit by the fact that he is unknown to many Europeans. Asked about the Republican candidate, 38% either said they did not know or refused to answer. 

Many in Romney's camp have analyzed the results of the poll by saying that it is only natural for Europeans to support Obama, because he is a socialist. This may sound ridiculous in European circles, as, very frankly, Europeans are not worried that much about health care in the U.S., but are much more worried about possible conflicts in which they can be drawn into by the possible Romney administration.

The European electorate has in most cases, if not always, supported candidates from the lines of the Democratic Party. However, this time the difference of the support is significant. It has never happened that the support for one candidate is this high in Europe. It remains to be said that this is a wake up call from Europe for all Americans who have not yet decided for whom to vote. It remains to be seen how many of the voters in the U.S. actually care about the image of the country abroad, and about the opinion of their closest allies.