THE DEMS AND EUROPE, A GOP OPPORTUNITY? – AT 7:50 P.M. ET:  This is an original, fascinating take on an issue that hasn't quite made it to the surface yet – the Democrats' reverent attitude toward things European, and how that might affect the November elections.  From pollster Peter A. Brown in The Wall Street Journal:

Over the past decade or so, and especially since Barack Obama’s ascendancy to the presidency, conservatives have fretted about what they see as liberal efforts to make American more like Western Europe. But now, with the financial problems in the Eurozone, Republicans may be able to profit from the change they have long decried.

And...

...it does appear to many that within the Obama administration and the Democratic congressional leadership there is the sentiment that America would be a better place if it were more to resemble Western Europe.

An Opportunity for GOP Candidates

And with Western Europe on the ropes, this could provide a political opportunity for the Republicans in the November elections.

Here’s one potential way the confluence of the European financial problems and the Obama administration’s efforts to move the U.S. more towards the European model could rear its head come November.

And...

Even before the European economic problems surfaced, Republicans were planning on using the debt issue this November to brand Democrats as fiscally irresponsible.

The European economic crisis is likely to make that argument more effective. With other nations in addition to Greece facing severe financial problems because of government overspending, the story isn’t going away any time soon.

Moreover, the example of how the average Greek citizen is going to take a hit in his and her standard of living because of the nation’s past fiscal sins is something that the GOP may be able to use to drive home its message.

If so, the Democratic soft spot for Western Europe could become a political liability for party candidates this November.

COMMENT:  The writer has a solid point.  America is largely the child of Europe, but Americans don't want to be Europeans.  They really don't like it when Europeans parade their "superior" values before us or their more "humane" societies. 

Americans actually do know something of history, and know that it's the United States that has had to save Europe, repeatedly, and not the other way around.  Americans also know that some of the ugliness of Europe – fascism and extreme socialism – are not especially humane. 

They also know that some of the "advances" in Europe were made possible by a Western defense alliance largely created by and financed by the United States.

If Democrats come off as having a special passion for the Euro, they could become French toast.

May 12, 2010