Pssst ... don't tell the Americans

This is stunning. Just ... stunning.



This pic is a screenshot from Wednesday morning, and the link is an interactive Flash page, so it may have changed by the time you look at it.

But I doubt it's going to change much.

You may ask, who are these Economist people, anyway? Some bunch of Lefty foreigners? Well, you're half right:

The Economist claims it "is not a chronicle of economics."[6] Rather, it aims "to take part in a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress."[7] It practices advocacy journalism in taking an editorial stance based on free trade and globalisation. It targets educated readers and boasts an audience containing many influential executives and policy-makers.[8]

The publication belongs to The Economist Group, half of which is owned by the Financial Times, a subsidiary of Pearson PLC. A group of independent shareholders, including many members of the staff and the Rothschild banking family of England,[9] owns the rest. A board of trustees formally appoints the editor, who cannot be removed without their permission. In addition, about two-thirds of the seventy-five staff journalists are based in London, despite the global emphasis.[10]

There are two -- only two -- nations who would vote for McCain, Moldova and Georgia. Of the others, one (Slovakia) just leans to Obama, (pale blue) but the rest vote strongly for him (darker blue). Much of Africa isn't represented, along with Paraguay and Suriname, but the rest are firmly decided.

A less modest candidate might take this consensus and fashion a new motto ("More than 5 out of six living human beings prefer...") But what I worried about, after the first flush of glee, is that someone else might pick up this piece and run with it to push his campaign forward.

McCain.

Rove or no Rove, it's probably beyond the gall level of his actual campaign to try to spin the Economist piece. But keep an eye on the blogosphere and the more shameless columnists and radio hosts. More than most nations, the US seems to have a streak of orneriness as tall as the purple mountains' majesty and as wide as the amber waves of grain. I look to the shameless ones to use this sort of image
to paint a wealthy, white and privileged candidate as a huge underdog, struggling against the opinion of the whole world (which is full of foreigners, don'cha know).

A gold star to the first three readers to spot this happening. I hope I won't need any gold stars -- but the Republicans have consistently surprised me for the past decade. When their campaign needs a cup of gall, they have regularly ordered a gallon or two.

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UPDATE: Corrected the linkage -- the word "this" now links to the interactive flash source. --NM