The American people will be happy to know that they are receiving election advice from the top leaders of France.
First, it was the Minister of European Affairs who brought his support to Barack Obama. Bernard Cazenave said that he "wish[es] unreservedly" for the reelection of the current president of the United States.
The following day, the Prime Minister of France jumped into the fray: "If I were an American citizen, I would vote for Obama without hesitation" stated Jean-Marc Ayrault forthrightly.
Jean-Marc Ayrault choisirait Barack Obama s'il pouvait voter lorsBut previously, in September, even the country's president had opined on the matter, although François Hollande had done so in the joking round-about style that is his trademark. "If a socialist were to support either of the two candidates [in an American election], that could cost him votes." Maybe, therefore, he added with a smile, "I ought to support Mitt Romney."de l'élection présidentielle américaine du 6 novembre. "Si j'étais citoyen américain, je voterais sans hésiter Obama même si on attend des Etats-Unis, peut-être, sur un certain nombre de sujets, de l'audace", a déclaré le premier ministre français sur France Inter, en citant notamment la question du conflit israélo-palestinien.
Maybe the facts of the case that Hollande spelled out (the support of a foreign socialist — or perhaps even of anybody — is rarely good in an American election) did not reach Jean-Marc Ayrault and Bernard Cazenave. Indeed, as Le Nouvel Observateur's Vincent Jauvert puts it, such a public positioning is "contrary to the interests of France", which will — obviously — not benefit the country if Romney wins and which will not do so either in the case of an Obama victory. It is nothing but a "a short-term strategy" of "surfing on France's pro-Obama wave.
Update: Why Europeans Support Obama:
He wants to turn the United States into a version of Europe: big, meddlesome government, constantly higher levels of taxation, and intrusive regulation of almost everything
