Obama Has Failed America … He’s “European”!

The person responsible for this quote is neither neutral nor disinterested; he is the one who is aiming to deprive Obama of a second term in the White House in 2012. It sets the tone for the campaign which is still in its early stages. Introducing Mitt Romney — whom we might remember from 2008 — the handsome Mormon billionaire and former governor of Massachusetts where he passed a health reform that will not make his election campaign any easier, to say nothing of his francophobic tendencies. Romney was nominated this Thursday and wasted no time in kicking his presidential campaign off with his first frontal attack: “Barack Obama has failed America. When he took office, the economy was in recession. He made it worse. And he made it last longer,” summed Romney.

Already well-known in the States thanks to his 2008 campaign (where he finished second in the Republican primary, behind McCain), Mitt Romney is currently the favorite in the Republican camp, with 16 percent of the vote among Republicans, ahead of — or tied with — Sarah Palin (if she is still running). However, the polls mostly show that no Republican candidate has been determined yet; also, another billionaire, Jon Huntsman, may be soon throwing his hat into the ring. He may not be the most well-known candidate to the general public, but he hopes he can make an impact in the primaries.

Romney’s position is not a desirable one at the moment. Firstly, he is associated with the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints, which does not have the best image outside Mormon circles; secondly, his health reform in Massachusetts — which the Republicans criticized Obama’s plan to implement at a national level — leaves him with a lot of convincing to do. On the other hand, his strengths are what he intends to put forward, as we saw Thursday; his experience as a “private contractor” — he has earned a lot of money as a financial consultant — coupled with the governorship and organization of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002.

While appearing respectable and sufficiently “establishment,” Romney held a speech inspired by the tea party movement on Thursday. Romney accused Obama of being too… “European.” From here, it is undoubtedly less serious than being Muslim — also attributed to Obama — but for a number of Americans, it is an insult. “With the economy in crisis, his answer is to borrow money we can’t afford and throw it at Washington bureaucrats and politicians, just like Europe,” Romney said. He continued his attack by stating that “the president seems to take his inspiration not from the small towns and villages of New Hampshire, but from the capitals of Europe,” and that “President Obama’s European answers are not the right solution to America’s challenges.”

Despite all his anti-Obama sentiment, Romney seems to share at least one common fault with the current president: a dependence on teleprompters. Even for his opening speech, which seemed like it had been studied at length from a New Hampshire farm, Romney needed to resort to reading a prepared text, all the while seeming to improvise.