"Kandidat peinlich" - Mitt Romney's embarrassing turn on the world stage

Mitt Romney took his campaign abroad to show the world that he is presidential material. It was not a pretty picture, and his "gaffe-a-minute" tour succeeded insulting everyone from the British to the Palestinians to the US press corps. 

Der Spiegel has a good review of Romney's performance:  Kandidat peinlich: 

Stocksteif, ideenlos, künstlich: Auf seiner Europa-Tour hat der republikanische Präsidentschaftskandidat Mitt Romney sich viele Blößen gegeben. Die Pannenserie war kein Zufall - dieser Bewerber hat den Wählern wenig anzubieten.

(Awkwardly stiff, void of ideas, artifical: on his European tour the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney exposed many vulnerablities.  The series of blunders weren't simply unfortuante chance occurances - this candidate doesn't have much to offer the voters.)

Other than the billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, not many are impressed by Mitt Romney's goal to outsource US foreign policy to the Israeli Likud Party:

Romney ist nichtauthentisch. Er will der sein, den sich andere wünschen. Das macht Romney zum Kunstprodukt. Seine Kurswechsel sind legendär (Gesundheitsreform, Waffengesetze, Abtreibung), früher ging's nach links, jetzt geht's nach rechts. Immer dem Zeitgeist hinterher. Weil er den Evangelikalen daheim gefallen will, erklärt er Jerusalem entgegen jahrzehntelanger US-Politik zur Hauptstadt Israels - selbst die US-Botschaft liegt in Tel Aviv, weil Israels Annexion des arabischen Ostteils von Jerusalem international nicht anerkannt ist.

(Romney is not authentic.  He wants to become whatever others wish. That makes Romney a piece of artifice.  His flip-flops are legendary (healthcare reform, gun laws, abortion ) - in the past he veered left, now to the right. Always chasing the Zeitgeist. Since he wants to please the evangelicals at home, he declares that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel - contrary to decades of US policy.  Even the US embassy is in Tel Aviv because Israel's annexation of the eastern section is not recognized.)

Now the world has seen Mitt Romney for what he really is: a vutlure-capitalist opportunist in way over his head.

Other reviews of Romney in the German Press:

Romneys peinlicher PR-Patzer

Romneys Pleiten-und Pannenreise

Comments

[FabMax]

That may all very well be, but it wasn't Romney's intention to come across statesmanslike. The trip was a campaign stunt for the voters at home. Foreign policy is not important for them.

[David]

Americans may not care about foreign policy, but they don't like whiners and losers. And that's how Mitt Romney is seen- a pathetic whiner and loser.

[Hattie]

I'm an American and I care about foreign policy. Do I count?

[koogleschreiber]

Given all that the question would be who is the foreign policy camarilla around Romney? If his voters don't care much about foreign policy as long as they feel like having a strong leader, will a new administration end up in another simplified, say new world order 2.01? Here the US and Israel, there the muslims, Russia and China: You are with us or you are against us?

[michijo]

I am an American, and it's interesting to see what kind of candidates the "proud little-Americans" will have on their platter to choose from in mainstream culture. It's funny, that once you start not to follow these US elections, and dont read the news for a while, you come back and really think: who is this election really for? I am American, but am I supposed to vote? Who is that guy in the dark suit with gray hair at his temples? The elections belong to some class of people I am not involved with.