CROCODILE TEARS

Europeans Lament a 'Changed' America (ABC News, October 8th, 2004)

In Paris, a hairdresser says with a laugh that if he can't vote on Nov. 2, at least he is splashing Heinz ketchup on his steak-frites as his contribution to the momentum against President Bush.

In Oslo, a young Norwegian expresses his thoughts on a Web site that takes advantage of Norway's two-letter Internet code: www.tellhim.no

Even in Warsaw, where many support Bush, Poles question the president's Iraq policy. "He banged his fist on the table," said Ewa Wojcik, a 44-year-journalist. "Whether it was the right table remains a question."

Opinion surveys concur that Europe heavily favors Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. But, beyond the numbers, conversations reveal a broad belief that the Atlantic Ocean is wider than at any time in modern memory.

From Britain to the Baltics, many sense a sea change in sentiment toward an America they once admired largely linked to what they call an arrogant contempt of others after 9-11.

Cedric Judicis, 51, the ketchup-eating coiffeur, normally pays scant attention to U.S. presidential contenders, but this year he knows all about aspiring first lady Teresa Heinz Kerry, heiress to the H.J. Heinz Co. fortune. Heinz Kerry gained much of her $500 million portfolio through her Heinz inheritance, but she does not serve on the board and is not involved with the management of the company.

Like many Europeans who see the American chief executive as reshaping their world, Judicis wishes he could vote.

"To us, America was always the gold standard," he said. "It made mistakes, but it always meant well. We were like pupils who admired the master."

Sad, isn’t it? From de Gaulle and Palme, to Vietnam, to the ‘73 airlift to Israel, through Tripoli, Chile, defense budgets, European missile defense, Reagan’s challenge to communism, Nicaragua and sanctions against Iraq, we all remember those glorious decades when philo-Americanism drove Europe.