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Last November public opinion polls claimed that over 70% of Europeans would have voted for Barack Obama against John McCain. “But who have the majority of Europeans voted for now? For McCain,” opines journalist/essayist Jean-Paul Marthoz in Le Soir. “By buttressing the clout of the European People’s Party to the furthermost frontiers of sovereigntism and rank populism, a decisive portion of the European electorate have turned against the ‘soft change’ personified by Barack Obama.” The bulk of the European Parliament remains securely anchored along the moderate democratic axis, to be sure. But for Marthoz the elections attest to a falling-back on conservative notions of national identity and to a weakening of Europe’s “soft power” in the global arena – a soft power now being wielded by the United States.
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