Among those on hand for the Mitt Romney rally in Shelby Township today was a newspaper reporter from Denmark who is in the United States to get a first-hand look at our presidential process.
Christoffer Melson of Copenhagen said that the Danes have a “fascination” with the U.S. Republican primary process. The results of each primary or caucus is big news in Denmark, Melson said. One TV station shows minute-by-minute primary results late into the night on each Election Day during the ongoing nomination process.
A blogger for Denmark’s largest paper, Jyllands-Posten, Melson said the Danish people are interested in the news out of America because the U.S. is a strong ally and the Danes have deployed troops to Iraq and Afghanistan.
But he conceded that a lot of the interest comes from a Danish audience that strongly supports President Obama and is captivated by the odd field of GOP candidates vying for the opportunity to face him in November.
Romney is known as “the flip flopper;” Ron Paul is “the crazy old guy;” and Rick Santorum is “the devil,” because his deeply religious views and policies contrast sharply with Denmark’s secular approach to social services and culture.
One more thing: Melson said he is a bit of a libertarian, by Danish standards, and supports the relatively radical politicians who want to see a 40 percent top income tax rate for the wealthiest taxpayers. In Denmark, he added, proposing a 30 percent top rate would be “political suicide.”
