The European Campaign

Chris Matthews and Andrew Sullivan were not the only people to be scared witless by Obama’s disappointing performance, and Romney’s incisive one, in the first presidential debate. Over in Western Europe, according to Reuters, entire governments are currently imitating the famous painting The Scream by Munch. (Or, as Barry Humphries asked, Was it The Munch by Scream? In this case, the scream would be coming from the munchers on the European gravy train.)

Luke Baker’s Reuters report of October 4 tells us that the debate “provoked uneasiness in European capitals, where hopes are mostly, if unofficially, pinned on [Obama’s] securing a second term.” There was “particular consternation” at Romney’s singling out Spain as “a poorly administered economy,” especially since Obama had praised the country in 2008 for its “renewable-energy policies.” “Spain has never been mentioned in a presidential debate as a symbol of failure,” Reuters quoted the newspaper El País as lamenting. “What happened last night makes history. And not in a good way.”