How 'Europe' became a dirty word in the US election (BBC)
As Florida goes to the polls in its primary election for the Republican presidential candidate, how did Europe-bashing become such an issue?
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Mr Romney and his chief Republican rival, Newt Gingrich - who is also said to have a passing acquaintance with French - have spent the past few months arguing that the current US president wants to turn the US into a European country.
In the US, this is not as crazy a line of attack as it might sound from Europe.
The eurozone debt crisis, and fears that Greece, Portugal, Spain and the rest might yet drag the faltering US economy down with them, has turned Europe into a dirty word in American politics.
Accusing Mr Obama of wanting to follow the same path of ever-growing welfare budgets and high taxes that supposedly led the EU nations to this pass will strike a chord with many voters.
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16583813
I don't quite agree with everything in this article -- let's face it, Repubs have always tried to use "European" to imply effeteness. The US/EU dichotomy, for them, is one of cowboy macho vs limp-wristed ineffectualness. "Why else do we keep having to win their wars for them?" is not an uncommon meme put forward by gun-toting, ass-kicking, shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later, jingoistic wingnuts. Goint it alone is virtuous; negotiating towards consensus is spinelessness.
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