Romney's Geography

Published in Neues Deutschland
(Germany) on 24 October 2012
by Olaf Standke (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Ron Argentati. Edited by Gillian Palmer.
Syria is Iran's sole ally in the Arab world and its only connection to the sea. That's true only if you want to believe it: Iran has its own 1,100-mile coastline on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman and has no common border with Syria. But this wasn't Mitt Romney's first attempt at trying to bluff his way through geography. Just recently, Romney tried to locate a possible Palestinian state on Syria's border. “Every time you've offered an opinion, you've been wrong,” Obama quipped during their latest television debate, held in Boca Raton, Florida. The incumbent president conceded absolutely nothing in the foreign policy match and came away the absolute winner of the debate. That was later confirmed by surveys where 48 percent of respondents declared Obama the winner, even though the two contestants agreed on such topics as the necessity of the U.S. remaining in a global leadership position.

But the debates didn't offer a clear blueprint as to how the election will go; other factors, such as economic and social considerations, will play a more decisive role in the outcome. The final decision, according to many election experts, may well be made by the approximately one million undecided voters, both Democratic and Republican, in the so-called swing states, such as Florida.


Romneys Erdkunde
Von Olaf Standke

Syrien ist Irans einziger Verbündeter in der Arabischen Welt. Es ist seine Verbindung zum Meer.« Mit Radio Jerewan könnte man sagen: im Prinzip ja. Nur dass Iran eine Hunderte Kilometer lange Küste hat. Und keineswegs an Syrien grenzt. Nicht zum ersten Mal verblüffte Mitt Romney mit seiner eigenartigen Erdkunde. Erst kürzlich machte der republikanische Präsidentschaftskandidat in Verkennung der nahöstlichen Landkarte Syrien zum Nachbarland eines möglichen Palästinenserstaates. »Jedes Mal, wenn Sie Ihre Meinung sagen, liegen Sie falsch«, kanzelte Barack Obama seinen Herausforderer im letzten Fernsehduell vor den Wahlen am 6. November angriffslustig ab. Der Amtsinhaber gab in der außenpolitische Runde den Oberkommandierenden und war fraglos Chef im Debattenring. Das bestätigten auch die nachfolgenden Umfragen, wonach 48 Prozent der befragten Zuschauer den Präsidenten zum Sieger der Redeschlacht erklärten - auch wenn sich beide Kandidaten durchaus nahe waren, wenn es darum ging, ein militärisch starkes »Amerika« als globale Führungsmacht zu postulieren.

Eine Blaupause für den Urnengang lieferten die Demoskopen allerdings nicht, dafür seien andere, nämlich wirtschaftliche und soziale Themen entscheidender. Letztlich, so Wahlforscher, könnte der nächste Präsident von der Entscheidung der eine Million noch unentschlossenen Stimmberechtigten in den zwischen Demokraten und Republikanern pendelnden »Swing States« abhängen. Beispielsweise in Florida.
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