The Wall Street Journal had a round-up piece on how several foreign governments perceive the American presidential election, but there was one interesting nugget that stood out. It appears that French President Jacques Chirac, despite his “differences” with Bush over the years, sees a big silver lining to a second Bush term.
For Mr. Chirac, a Bush victory could make it easier for him to achieve some key goals — such as unifying Europe as a counterweight to U.S. power — owing to Mr. Bush’s role as a lightning rod for mistrust and antipathy in Europe, says Francois Heisbourg, director of the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris.
“Four more years of Bush, and I suspect there will be a lot more unity in Europe,” Mr. Heisbourg says.
This is hilarious. France sees a benefit to having a disastrous American president because it’ll make it easier for America’s strength and influence to wane even further throughout the continent. Bush is dividing the U.S. and uniting Europe — against us.
I don’t imagine we’ll be hearing about this near-endorsement from BC04 today.