THAT THEY DISTINGUISH HIM FROM AMERICA IS REPRESENTATIVE OF HIS PROBLEM AT HOME:

Obama Remains Popular in Europe, Poll Shows (JOHN W. MILLER, 9/09/09, WSJ)

A record 77% of Europeans approve of Mr. Obama's handling of international affairs, compared with 19% support for former President George W. Bush a year ago. In Germany, Europe's biggest country, the jump was 80 percentage points, the biggest increase in any category in the seven-year history of the survey.

"Beyond the hype about 'Obamamania,' this is a tsunami, a once-in-a-generation bounce in popularity," says Ronald Asmus, executive director of the Fund's Trans-Atlantic Center in Brussels.

The news for Mr. Obama personally is good, but less so for U.S. foreign policy. Europeans remain highly skeptical about America's goals for Afghanistan, the U.S.'s diplomatic pressure involving Iran's nuclear program and American support for Turkey's admission into the EU. "The president has not been able to convert personal popularity into real support for policies," Mr. Asmus says.