Redstate

By Soren Dayton Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Democrats | European Union | Isolationism | Trade — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

The European Union's Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, Tony Blair's right-hand man in Europe, blasted the Democrats for their isolationist rhetoric:

It is irresponsible to be pretending to people you can erect new protection, new tariff barriers around your economy in this 21st century global age and still succeed in sustaining peoples’ living standards and jobs. It is a mirage and they know it.

It is a mirage. It is the same mirage that led a representative of the Obama campaign to tell the Canadian government that Obama's isolationist rhetoric in Ohio was "just politics."

I can assure you that our allies are very worried about this. I recently attended a dinner of Europhiles in Washington in which a number of diplomats from left-leaning governments declared Obama "scary" and "ignorant" on globalization, Europe, and NATO.

Read on for more on Mandelson and other allies we are alienating.

The same sentiment that I heard from the diplomats, you hear in Mandelson's remarks about the Democrat's isolationism:

It is very irresponsible in my view to pretend to people that we can disengage from international trade, we can create barriers around our economy and then be surprised when people retaliate by doing the same. It is going to lead us into a vicious spiral of beggar-thy-neighbour policies which will take us decades back in terms of trade growth.

This same sentiment on Colombia the Washington Post editorial page heard as "Drop Dead Colombia."

Those are the Democrats. Alienating allies. Breaking commitments. Just imagine what they would do in power.