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Home Page > Blogs > News blogs > People and Politics > 96 percent in Ireland say they would vote for Obama in US election - Puzzled Americans ask why do Irish in Ireland dislike the GOP so much?

People and Politics by Patrick Roberts

96 percent in Ireland say they would vote for Obama in US election - Puzzled Americans ask why do Irish in Ireland dislike the GOP so much?

Posted on Saturday, October 20, 2012 at 08:15 AM

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Mitt Romney and Barack Obama

A Gallup International poll has revealed that Irish, in Ireland, would vote 96-4 percent for Barack Obama over Mitt Romney.

That’s not a landslide it is an avalanche.

But it begs the question why Irish and Europeans in general see so little to like in the GOP candidates these days.

After all many Irish are Catholic conservatives fiercely opposed to abortion and feel issues like immigration into Ireland is destroying the country.

The business class in ireland would surely have far more in common with lower taxes and less government that the Republican Party espouses.

Yet despite that obvious affinity there is no support whatever for the Republican Party in Ireland.

I am always struck by this when talking to Irish politicians who in this country would be considered moderate conservatives but who have no time whatever for the GOP.

They blame George Bush and Ronald Reagan and American support for Israel.

Reagan first. During his war in Nicaragua against the Sandinistas Reagan alienated the Irish, especially the religious orders who had large numbers of nuns and priests working in poor neighborhoods there.

Read more US Election 2012 news stories here

There was a universal sense in Ireland of America the bully which cost the American image dear.

Now to Bush. The Iraq war and its aftermath was also a disaster for the perception of America abroad.

But perhaps nothing is more damaging than the perception by the GOP that the UN is a useless institution

While the UN maybe reviled in the U.S. in many circles, in Ireland it is seen as a very necessary international institution. It is the one way that a small country like Ireland can have an influence on great issues of the day. Irish troops who serve in UN peacekeeping missions are highly praised there and regarded with great pride. United Nations happenings are very closely reported.

There is huge animosity to the sense of America First, anti UN sense that the GOP foreign policy seems to foster.

Then there is the issue of Israel.

The overwhelming number of Irish identify with the Palestinians and draw many comparisons between their plight and the Irish under British rule.

America’s role as Israel’s defender come what may, especially in GOP circles, plays very badly in ireland.

On the other hand Obama is seen as an internationalist who seeks co-operation across borders and who sees the UN as a valuable institution.

I don’t see much changing in the future as long as the GOP continues to drift right.

That 96-4 figure may even shrink further for Republicans if the current anti GOP sense continues.

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windswiper | Dec 27, 2012, 09:21 PM EST

The Irish must have a vendetta against America if 96 percent of them would have cast their vote in favor of this immoral creep. I would not wish the likes of this man on Ireland or any other nation . This buffoon is the 'worst' president in U.S. history. Ronald Reagan, of good Irish stock, was the best.

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LindaMarie | Nov 09, 2012, 07:03 AM EST

@ColleenMcVeety Get a grip on yourself. People have opinions, regardless of whether they can vote in a US election. Or are you going to come up with some conspiracy to blame the Irish for Romney's miserable loss? Gasp!!! That must be it! Romney totally would have been president if Irish people didn't post on the internet! Frigging basketcase.

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Madeliene | Oct 26, 2012, 11:55 AM EDT

I know why the Middle East want vo to be Pres! The Irish? Misery loves company?

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johnshiel | Oct 26, 2012, 10:15 AM EDT

this is a goofy premise, who would the Irish vote for... but I have to say it has elicited maybe the best and most illuminating comments I've seen yet on this site. Really. If someone wanted to undertand viewpaoints of Irish and Irish Americans today, they's be hard pressed to beat this. Warts 'n' all, as they say...

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Boldeagle | Oct 25, 2012, 11:57 AM EDT

Just lost a lot of respect for the Irish. Is it ignorance or bias that makes you love Obama so much? Americans don't know the man so how can you? One day the truth will hopefully come out about this guy and when it does, it won't be pretty. All those who would "vote" for him in Ireland will look foolish. There may be the odd thing about the President that is admirable but in the bigger picture, the man is a fraud and a fake through and through. Who he pretends to be is not who he is. He does not love America and is quite probably trying to bring the country to it's knees. There are millions of examples but here's just one. Do you not remember when he told the President of Russia that he would have more flexibility after the election and to pass that message on to Vladamir (Putin)? Remember, he thought the mic was off and his comment was not meant to be heard by the American public. Do any of you have a suggestion as to what he might have been talking about? Isn't that rather scary? Is this someone you would trust? How about the latest story. The ring on his finger is the same ring Michelle put on as his wedding band. It's also the same ring he wore at Harvard and there's even an article in the Harvard Law Review in which his classmates joke about that ring, since he wore it on his wedding finger. There's an inscription on the ring, in Arabic. It basically says there is but one god and that is Allah. So what is a man who professes to be a good Christian doing wearing a ring for 25 years with that inscription? Possibly an innocent coincidence but given that it's the President, wouldn't anyone like to know more about the apparent contradiction? Bigger question. Why are the Irish so asleep about this man? If you want to learn what the mainstream press will never print, go to WND or World New Daily in the US. They are far closer to the truth than the mainstream press or 96% of the Irish population.

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RthrBHistCorr | Oct 24, 2012, 10:55 PM EDT

I would vote for Obama too if he was 3,000 miles away. I wonder what the Irish would say if you were to ask Americans who they would vote for Taoiseach?

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AlDente | Oct 24, 2012, 10:20 AM EDT

After years of the country moving to the left Ronald Reagan made it cool to be conservative. The country has slid even further to the right since then such that Reagan now wouldn't pass the Republican litmus test. The Democratic party is to the right of where the Republican party was 40 years ago and the Republican party today is where the lunatic fringe right was decades ago. Growing up William F Buckley was a hero of mine but he famously kicked the John Birchers out of the Republican party because he knew the GOP would not be taken seriously as long as it had so many nuts in it. Now the Birchers and other fringe are the moral and intellectual leaders of the Republican party. The lunatics have taken over the asylum. We have a conservative party in the US; it is the Democratic party. We have a wingnut party here too and it is the Republican party. I used to be a Republican but the party has moved so far to the right that it no longer represents me or any sane person.

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Scrivner | Oct 23, 2012, 05:12 PM EDT

Hence the push for voer ID laws in the States--to keep illegals from illegally voting.

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chocolatesauce | Oct 23, 2012, 04:44 PM EDT

There are many reasons why the GOP is hated in Ireland, but there are (at least) two underlying cultural reasons: The Irish hate imperialism and we have a deep-rooted sense of community and solidarity, something Americans obviously lack, as judged by the contempt they show the poor and the sick. Although the Democratic party is just as guilty as the GOP for the violent, anti-democratic empire the US has maintained since the 40's, the GOP is by far the cheerleader for that empire and thus gains the most notice and blame for its crimes.

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Maccy | Oct 23, 2012, 04:11 PM EDT

"Most irish are Catholic Conservatives, fiercely apposed to abortion"?? Has this writer ever stepped foot on Irish soil because by the sounds of it, he is writing about an Ireland of a bygone era. The writing in this article is not only delusional but also an arrogant view of Irish American political perceptions. The reason Irish people like the democratic party (in particular Obama and Clinton) has noting to do with conservatism (which has long since passed) or abortion. It has everything to do with the Irish ability to decipher realism from claptrap and to repel jingoistic hollywood nonsensical rhetoric that the republicans have been throwing up for decades. Seriously, stop talking nonsense.

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peterson | Oct 23, 2012, 02:31 PM EDT

They say that figures don't lie, BUT -- Liars do figure !! This must be the situation !!

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hunter933 | Oct 23, 2012, 10:01 AM EDT

Maybe because the Republicans are so scary?

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Chicago1 | Oct 23, 2012, 09:30 AM EDT

Your own paper is reporting an Irish Times poll states that 79% of Irish would vote for Obama. Again, only 1000 people were polled.

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Midwest | Oct 23, 2012, 02:26 AM EDT

>> "Puzzled Americans ask why do Irish in Ireland dislike the GOP so much?" It could have something to do with American maladministration under the GOP not only destroying the US economy but destroying the Irish economy even more completely. Stop with the "blame the GOP" talk. It's effin' pathetic. The economy went down because both parties allowed Americans to loan out mortgages that they couldn't afford ... mostly it was the DNC's doing. Frank & Dodd -- look it up. Read it. Study it. Comprehend it. And those who think the GOP dominated Wall Street - yea, not so much. STOP blaming it on the GOP because you sound like a tool.

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Smyrnian | Oct 22, 2012, 08:04 PM EDT

Thankfully they cannot vote here. They have enough problems electing an effective government for themselves. Ireland, once again cannot support it's own people; sending young people away one every 5 minutes! Bodes ill for their future.

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