Has a foreign leader ever endorsed a U.S. Candidate?

[Liberalboy]

I'm just curious? Wouldn't it speak volumes if Tony Blair endorsed Kerry? Paul Martin of Canada? Etc. They are supposed to represent the liberal wing of their respective governments - so Kerry is on their side.

Is it Taboo?

Just wondering....

[Catholic Sensation]

1. most americans wouldn't care

[Dookus]

2. Not that I'm aware of

and it would be a terrible precedent. I hope nobody does it.

[LiberalTechie1337]

3. I thought Paul Martin was a moderate conservative

I seem to recall seeing that on the Political Compass site

[Hoping4Change]

4. What a dumb question. Don't you read?

Who doesn't know that Jeeessuuuus endorsed Shrubnik. Sheeesh.

[reorg]

5. yes, pretty much taboo

German government politicians (Social Democrats) make sure in all interviews and declarations that nobody notices their great enthusiasm about the fact that there will be a regime change in the US :-)

OTOH -- it would only hamper political talks if they didn't, and there may well be less of a change than one would hope (as is pointed out regularly by commentators and politicians alike).


Chancellor Schröder in his "summer interview" with the German version of C-Span, Phoenix:

Question: George W. Bush.
Answer: Is American president. And we have a good working relationship.

Question: John Kerry.
Answer: Is candidate, as you know. I hardly know him personally. I only met him at Ronald Reagan's funeral, where I had the opportunity to briefly talk to him. I believe it will be a close race. However, we should keep out of this.


----------------------
Frage: George W. Bush.
Antwort: Ist amerikanischer Präsident. Und wir arbeiten gut zusammen.

Frage: John Kerry.
Antwort: Ist, wie Sie wissen, Kandidat. Ich kenne ihn persönlich kaum. Ich habe ihn nur anlässlich der Beerdigung von Ronald Reagan kurz sprechen können. Aber ich glaube, es wird ein knappes Rennen. Nur, wir sollten uns da raus halten.

[TrogL]

6. As opposed to calling them names...

"moron"
"idiot"

[George_Bonanza]

7. It'd be a potential disaster

People living in Rhode Island or California or Alabama won't really care what the President of Russia thinks about so and so in an election. Domestic endorsements hardly seem to matter, so how persuasive can a foreign one be? If anything, it'd probably be seen as being meddlesome. And what if, say, the PM of England endorses one candidate, and that candidate loses? He/she will have a lot of bridges of mend with the new victor, especially with a leader as vindictive as Bush.

As for Paul Martin, I'm sure he'd welcome a Kerry victory over a Bush one. Bush's economic tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber and beef, not to mention his Iraq war, has made him incredibly unpopular in Canada. Being seen as too cozy with Bush would definitely hurt Martin's image, yet he cannot ignore his country's biggest trading partner. Kerry at least has a clean slate with Canada and has great support among Canadians over Bush.

[Eric J in MN]

8. They shouldn't endorse Kerry, because that would seem meddlesome, but

if Tony Blair met with Kerry and said a few nice words about him, that would be fine.

[WillyBrandt]

9. William Hague, Conservative Opp Leader in UK, endorsed Bush

[jmowreader]

10. A foreign leader already endorsed Bush

Okay, so it was the head of the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, a confederate of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda group. But still!

[Tashi]

11. and they shouldn't

Unlike Bush who has personally whacked into our Australian Labor Party opposition leader Mark Latham, Armitage,Powell and the USA Ambassador to Australia J. Thomas Schieffer have done the same.

This is very worrying with an election coming up within a couple of months (no fixed term for us).

[BayouBengal07]

12. When Kerry said foreign leaders had privately endorsed him,

Everyone started making jokes that the leaders were Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, and Kim Jong Il.

Assholes...but he did kind of set himself up by not naming who endorsed him.