The French don’t like Mitt Romney because he’s both uninteresting and he’s an American Republican:
“On paper, he is not uninteresting. He is a moderate, almost classic, Republican,” observed François de Rugy, a Green Party MP who served as vice president of the France-United States friendship organization in the previous legislature. But de Rugy added, “There is very little known about him because he has no international experience.” To make matters worse, the U.S. Republican label is not ideal in France. “Republicans suffer from two stereotypes in France: one advocating a lawless capitalism and the other advocating racist policies. [...]
“Mitt Romney suffers from two things,” said Durpaire, who is putting the finishing touches on his new book, “The United States for Dummies.” First, the French have a much greater enthusiasm for Democrats, a sentiment that predates Obama. “The Democrats are the darlings of the French” for reasons of philosophy and political culture, Durpaire said. Second, Obama himself has a very positive image. “He will always be the first black president of the United States,” noted Durpaire. “Furthermore, his health insurance reform provided the impression that he was closer to French policy positions.” Even right-wing French elected officials are in no hurry to defend their conservative counterpart. In 2008, few officials from Sarkozy’s Union for a Popular Movement openly supported the presidential candidacy of Sen. John McCain, a pattern that is likely to be repeated in 2012.”
And Italians don’t like him because he pulled a Bain Capital on Italy like he pulled a Bain Capital on the United States:
“That’s because Bain Capital, under Romney as chief executive officer, made about $1 billion in a leveraged buyout 12 years ago that remains controversial in Italy to this day. Bain was part of a group that bought a telephone-directory company from the Italian government and then sold it about two years later, at the peak of the technology bubble, for about 25 times what it paid.
“[...] In Italy, the deals have spurred at least three books, separate legal and regulatory probes and newspaper columns alleging investors made a fortune at the expense of Italian taxpayers. Boston-based Bain wasn’t a subject of the inquiries, which didn’t result in any charges. The sale of the government’s directory business is “a dark chapter in the country’s privatization history, one that has hurt Italians deeply,” said Bernardo Bortolotti, an economics professor at Turin University who advised the Italian Treasury on asset sales from 2002 through 2005. “It was a mistake from the start, damaged by a lack of transparency and the use of offshore funds.””
No one likes Mitt Romney. This is like a badge of honor to people in the tea party, but they’re also crazy and racist.
