Anti-European Campaign Among Republicans

The moment doesn’t lack irony: Mitt Romney has been accused by Newt Gingrich of speaking French — you read that right — while the former reproaches Barack Obama for being too… European!

“This election is a battle for the soul of America. It’s a choice between two different destinies for America. President Obama wants to fundamentally transform our country. We want to restore to America the founding principles that made this country great and the hope of the Earth,” said Romney, former governor of Massachusetts the night after his victory in New Hampshire.

“This President takes his inspiration from the capitals of Europe; we look to the cities and small towns of America,” added the favorite Republican nominee for the 2012 presidential election.

The Democratic president will undoubtedly defend the idea of imposing a foreign model on Americans. But, in the meantime, Romney knows very well that he can score points among a particular electorate by raising the European specter.

But, he isn’t the only one who can play this game, as was recently shown by Gingrich’s campaign team. Aired Thursday on the web, an ad titled “The French Connection” compared Romney to two Democratic presidential candidates from Massachusetts: Michael Dukakis, the unfortunate opponent of George Bush senior in 1988, and John Kerry, who bowed out before the younger George Bush in 2004.

“Massachusetts moderate Mitt Romney — he’ll say anything to win. Anything. And just like John Kerry, he speaks French,” says the narrator of the advertisement.

The ad ends with a clip pulled from a video showing Romney introducing himself in French to francophone volunteers at the winter Olympic games in Salt Lake City, of which he was the organizer.

“Hi, my name is Mitt Romney,” said the future candidate for the Republican nomination, who learned French during a two-year stay in France as a Mormon missionary.

The Republican party has a number of francophobes, especially since the nation lead by Jacques Chirac refused to participate in the Iraq War. Gingrich, however, should not be included in this group, having expressed a very great admiration for Charles de Gaulle in the past.

The former speaker of the House of Representatives also lived in Orleans, France, in his youth, where his military father was stationed.

But don’t tell that to the voters of South Carolina, where the next Republican primary will be held on Jan. 21.