In 2012 several European countries’ citizens were surveyed regarding their support for Obama’s re-election. The results were clear: the majority of Europeans strongly supported the re-election of Obama. In Germany and France, approximately 90 percent of the population stated their support for Obama. In northern European countries the results of the poll were similar. Why was support for the re-election of Obama so massively skewered in his favor in Europe as compared to the United States, and has his popularity changed over time? Let’s look at some of the key factors of these questions.
Presidential Personality
A president’s personality will always have an impact on his popularity with voters, as well as on his presidential staff. But just how much personality matters has been a point of discussion for scholars for many years. For instance, political scientist James David Barber attributes the ultimate failure of President Bush to his obsessive personality and low self-esteem, whereas Stephen Skowronek, another political scientist, argues that a presidents’ personality is nowhere near as important as the political atmosphere when he takes office. The truth is probably somewhere in between the two, since a presidents’ personality certainly does matter, but so does the state of the presidency when he enters the office.
There is no doubt that Obama appears likeable and down to earth and his air of confidence and laid back attitude certainly helps him in terms of voter approval. Indeed, he won a New York Times poll on which presidential candidate voters would rather drink a beer with. According to Barber’s theories on presidential character, Obama’s easygoing confidence allows him to be flexible and change his political strategies. This is in stark contrast to Bush, who stuck to his course in Iraq, causing his approval rating to plummet from 90 percent following 9/11 to 25 percent when he left office. This is the lowest approval rating of any president since approval ratings have been recorded. Meanwhile, Obama’s personality played a significant role in his popularity in America and Europe.
“Obama’s a socialist!”
It is interesting to note that in the U.S. “socialism” is a dirty word across the political spectrum. That is simply not the case in Europe. Many European countries’ governments consist of political parties that proudly affiliate themselves with socialism. Americans generally frown upon the term “socialism,” whereas roughly half of Europeans think positively of it. That’s why Republican critique of Obamacare as evidence that “Obama’s being a socialist” simply makes no impact on the majority of Europeans. In fact the case is more often the reverse; what Obama has suggested with Obamacare, most Europeans would either take for granted or support. Obama is ‘the European’ in the US political landscape.
In contrast with most European countries, in the United States there are varying degrees of support for a more limited role of government. Americans generally prefer more individual freedom over a greater degree of equality. This tendency is likely to be the result of the country’s colonial past combined with ideals contained within the national ethos of the American Dream. America’s past as a former colony under the control of an empire has created some skepticism towards government that is reflected in the personal freedoms accorded individual citizens as codified in the Bill of Rights. The Second Amendment, which gives every American the right to bear arms, stems from the same tradition of personal freedom. The contradictory traditions and political ideologies of the United States and Europe account for why Obama has been perceived so differently in the two hemispheres.
This is particularly the case in many northern European countries. In Denmark, for instance, health care for the entire population is free, and many view the current American health care structure as being unfair to the poorest Americans. When Obama suggests moving towards a relatively more universal health care structure, he gains credit from Danes and other Europeans for being the ‘better person’ in contrast to his political rivals.
In the US, Obama is left wing, in Europe he’s mid-to-right
A lot of the European support for Obama is actually not based on Obama, but his political opponents. President George Bush received minimal support from Europeans because many people believed he was too far to the right, too old fashioned. This is an example of how the entire political spectrum in the US is pushed to the left, meaning a president like Obama is generally considered being on the fairly left side of the political spectrum. However, in Europe, there is a very different interpretation of Obama’s politics. Europeans view him as being in the middle and often to the right.
The point is that Obama is perceived as more moderate--particularly when he is compared to Republican politicians like George Bush, who is perceived as ‘too’ far to the right for majority of Europeans. The same was true for Romney, and that is why the European support for Obama was immense. In the U.S., many viewed Romney as someone who attained his wealth and position through hard work, but many Europeans regarded Romney as the wealthy and privileged business man wanting to make the rich richer, and the poor poorer.
Overall the ‘American dream’, deeply engrained in the American population and culture, simply doesn’t apply as much to Europeans. The aspect of inequality often leads to European support of Democratic politicians, and especially those who seek to implement political ideas limiting inequality – as Obama with his Obamacare initiative and support for raising minimum wage.
Thoughtfulness mistaken for stalling?
The expectations for a president of the U.S. rarely have been so high as they were for Obama when he was elected to his first term as president. Americans loved him; Europeans even more so. However, his popularity and support has diminished during the course of his time in office, both within the United States and throughout Europe.
I believe that many people around the world perhaps failed to make a distinction between the Obama the person and Obama the politician. He is obviously very charismatic, empathetic, and well-spoken. He appears to be the type of person everyone would love to hang out with, man or woman, Democrat or Republican, American or European. He simply has that ‘just a good person’ vibe, and this has without any doubt given him massive support throughout the years, regardless of whether people agree with his politics.
Over the past several years, the world has faced some serious and global threats, which really has put Obama on the spot. A spot where it’s been difficult for him not to divide people’s opinions, and I believe that’s why Obama’s support worldwide has dropped.
The recent escalation of ISIS maneuvers in the Middle East is an example. Many people, including many Europeans, would claim that Obama has delayed action, in the hopes that the involved parties would eliminate each other and the problem would disappear. In reality this hasn’t happened. ISIS has only grown stronger, and it has happened on Obama’s watch.
Obama has certainly faced his share of foreign political obstacles and threats during his presidency, most prominently consisting of the challenges presented by Syria, Afghanistan, Russia’s military actions in Ukraine, Iraq, and the continued conflict between Israel and Palestine. Obama’s line in the sand in Syria led to a political debacle that has made critics question his decisiveness as Commander in Chief and led to a complex negotiation with Russia on the removal of chemical weapons. The U.S.-Russian relationship has now turned cold due to Russian aggression in Ukraine, which has also led NATO to reorganize its forces to attend to the worrying security situation in Europe. Secretary Kerry has made the Israel/Palestine conflict a renewed priority, but the conflict has once again turned violent.
And most recently ISIS has shocked the Western world with its brutal actions and made it virtually impossible for the US and its allies not to respond. What complicates the situation even further is that it was the US invasion and removal of Saddam Hussein that left behind the void that ISIS is now filling in its attempt to create an Islamic state. Similar problems present themselves in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of most of the US troops.
While campaigning during his first run for office, Obama strongly criticized the nontransparent and aggressive foreign policy approach of the Bush administration. Obama wanted to take a more democratic approach to solving these problems. In reality, however, it only took an initial briefing in the Pentagon for Obama to more or less abandon this approach. Today the fact remains that missions have never been less transparent than since Obama took office. Drone strikes have quadrupled and Obama commands covert operations in secret non-official battlefields. Obama campaigned on being the anti-war candidate with a more democratic, peaceful approach and instead, he has become a war president; even more paradoxically, a war president with a Nobel Peace Prize.
Even though Europeans interpreted Obama’s electoral success in 2008 as a symbol of the progressive fight for civil rights equality, it’s become everyday life for Obama now. Not only Americans, but Europeans in particular, are giving him less and less leeway politically. This reflects back to the European trend that numerous of Obama’s political actions have been mistaken for being reflective and a result of thoughtfulness, whereas in reality they have been more of a stalling tactic.
At the end of the day, Europeans love the person Obama, and they always will. The politician Obama will however remain in a tough spot now and in the future.