Romney Would Be Better for Germany

Mitt Romney is gaining ground on Barack Obama in the race for the U.S. presidency. Suddenly, it seems possible that the wooden, elitist, conservative Mormon might succeed in replacing media star Obama. From Germany’s point of view, that would have advantages.

Four years ago, Barack Obama would have been certain to get 80 to 90 percent of the German vote. After the dreary George W. Bush years, the new president seemed to the Germans to be cool, smart, sympathetic, liberal – all in all much more European than his predecessor from Texas. But these days, Germans see a much more cooled-off Obama. Many of his promises – from closing Guantanamo to his ecological goals and on to his economic recovery plans – remain unfulfilled. Much of his governing style now seems to be cartoonesque and show-oriented. Above all, Obama has not developed good relations with Europe and he has particularly alienated Germany.

Seen in those terms, a Romney victory in November would have definite advantages for Germany. While Obama, for example, continues to push for the introduction of Eurobonds and thus the negotiation of financing Europe’s mountain of debt, Romney adheres to the austerity approach favored by Chancellor Angela Merkel. Obama has decided to tame America’s financial crisis by taking an aggressive approach and suggests Europe should do likewise – down to revising central bank policy to include the increased printing of money.

U.S. debt has now surpassed the $16 trillion mark, up from $10.6 trillion when Obama took office. His administration has thus accumulated more debt in just four years than the debt accumulated by an entire generation of Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, Greeks and Irish combined. This just doesn’t fit in with Merkel’s ideas of government finance.

Romney, on the other hand, advocates cleansing the budget rather than taking on new debt. He wants to rein in the growing expenditures of an expanding bureaucracy and would support German measures against any ineffective credit-financed debt increases. Like Merkel, Romney recognizes that the spiraling rise in debt levels, newly printed money and deficit-financed growth programs lead directly to socialist debt.

But leaving the policy of increasing the debt aside, Obama has another problem here in Germany. Over the past four years, German foreign policy makers have gotten the impression that Obama isn’t a true Atlanticist.

There is staggeringly little in his biography and his cultural interests that binds him to the old continent; he seldom seeks the advice of his allies, avoids personal visits and allows NATO to wither on the vine rather than redefining it.

Romney is much different – his family roots are in northwest England and he spent two years in France where he became fairly proficient in the French language. He has a foundation in the trans-Atlantic tradition.

Romney advocates a renewed leadership role for the United States and a united Western front. He accuses Obama of indecision and ignoring America’s alliances. This may only be wishful thinking on the part of a political challenger but it is enough to raise the awkward Republican’s European approval ratings.

Even former labor leader and Nobel laureate Lech Walesa is openly supporting Romney’s candidacy. He recently told him, “I wish you to be successful because this success is needed to the United States, of course, but to Europe and the rest of the world, too,”