Are Brits Really Angry At Romney?

[ProSense]

Are Brits Really Angry At Romney?

by hungrycoyote

The short answer is: No, they're laughing at him.

There were so many diaries yesterday about each and every gaffe Romney made, that I couldn't keep up. I would finish reading one diary, and there would be 10 more on the Recent Diary list. A huge portion of the Internet was exploding with shock, and then laughter, at just about every thing Romney said and every move he made.

Now that the dust is settling down a bit, and the pundits and politicians are weighing in, with some pundits saying that this will all blow over once the games actually begin, when the Republican VP candidate is announced, after the Republicans hold their convention and we get to watch the debates, come election day in November, Romney's missteps in London will be overshadowed by other events. Really?

This is, of course, significantly worse for Romney than if Britain was indeed furious. In America, foreign anger can sometimes be alchemised into a popularity boost, especially for a right-wing candidate: from time to time, the insinuation goes, American exceptionalism and muscular truth-talking is bound to to piss off the envious has-been Europeans. But being laughed at is different. Almost nobody bothers to pretend, these days, that Britain has sufficient global clout that any anger directed America's way would matter that much. But ridicule taps something deeper and older. And it bothers many people – perhaps especially proud American exceptionalists – much more.

Romney's problem is that a few hundred thousand more non-Americans now see him as a figure of fun – the kind of preposterous person who might, for example, commission a commemorative Olympic tie pin in the shape of his own face. That's not a (sorry about this) "game changer", in electoral terms. But it might register.

How furious is Britain at Mitt's insults? I'm going with 'not at all'

In his attempt to polish his foreign policy credentials, Willard Mitt Romney, started his overseas tour by making himself a laughing stock and the butt of endless jokes. (See the twitter hashtags #Romneyshambles,#AmericanBorat, MittTheTwit and #MittHitstheFan). It might have been better for Romney if he had actually done something to anger the Brits because Republicans could come to his defense and rally around him. But, when even Karl Rove thinks he blew it in London, Romney has a really big problem.

- more -

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/28/1114332/-Are-Brits-Really-Angry-At-Romney

http://skreened.com/lefty/american-borat

[muntrv]

1. Mitt, they're laughing AT you, not with you.

[hifiguy]

2. Not really, but they thoroughly enjoy

mocking and deriding self-important fools. IIRC, they call it "taking the mickey." It's something of a national specialty and, to paraphrase Hawkeye Pierce, Mittwit invites abuse; it would be impolite not to oblige him.

[robinlynne]

3. hey, they had Maggie Thatcher for goodness' sake!

[chollybocker]

4. Murdoch doesn't like Romney at all.

Or so he's said.

And all the Murdochites, despite their legal woes, still maintain a firm control over the Brit rags.

Have the Romney reports been unusually scathing, or a fair assessment of what he actually said? Hard to tell....

[larkrake]

5. No, laughing. He is a perfect foil for Brit humor

[bl968]

6. Saw this today, it was perfect...

[Jamaal510]

8. Only thing missing

are his gray sideburns.

[tularetom]

7. Not the first time a republican hero has been made a buffoon by the rest of the world

Just think back four years.

[LeftishBrit]

9. No, we simply despise him.

He performed the almost impossible feat of making Boris Johnson look very sensible, serious and reasonable in comparison.

[barbtries]

11. thanks for weighing in.

i didn't know the answer. are brits in agreement that a romney presidency would be a catastrophe?

[TeamPooka]

10. As lkong as he thinks they are it's cool.

[yellowcanine]

12. Actually I think PM Cameron was miffed at him. Look at this pic.

He is not laughing, and Mitt is inappropriately flashing a sophomoric frat boy nervous smile as the headmaster chews him out.

[Skittles]

13. Mitt doesn't have enough substance to elicit anger from Brits

the man is an empty suit

[Initech]

14. They're most likely laughing *AT* Romney.

[Scurrilous]

15. Heh.