# Old Europe playing politics? Foreign influence on US elections.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-europe-playing-politics-foreign-influence-on-us-elections/217510>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [December 7, 2003, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-europe-playing-politics-foreign-influence-on-us-elections/217510 "2003-12-07T05:37:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-europe-playing-politics-foreign-influence-on-us-elections/217510/1 "2003-12-07T05:37:54Z")

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I initially considered posting this in GQ, but I suspect more meat can come of it here.

In the recent Steel Tarriff tiff, the EU threatened to target some rather specific products. When I first saw the list, I thought it a bit odd, but it was soon pointed out to me that the products came from vital swing vote states, and it was a way to put pressure on the administration to drop the tarrifs. _That_ part I can understand, they were acting against a specific thing. But it got me to thinking. Have foreign governments ever taken to blatently targeting specific US administrations? Since there seems to be little love for the current administration across the pond, is it possible that the EU will take some action at election time to cast GWB is a negative light?

I guess I could see the USSR during the cold war attempting influence, but have allies ever exerted any type of pressure during election time?

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**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\
**Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-europe-playing-politics-foreign-influence-on-us-elections/217510/2 "2003-12-07T13:16:43Z")

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I think this had less to do with Europe wanting to influence the elections than to retaliate effectively for the steel tarriffs.

Personally, although I generally defend Bush around here, I think the steel tarriffs were an awful idea and a craven political act designed to gain votes in swing states. If I was a European politician, I would consider it a pretty clever idea to turn this strategy around on Bush.

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**Author:** ![kevlaw](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kevlaw/32/2281_2.png) [@kevlaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevlaw)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-europe-playing-politics-foreign-influence-on-us-elections/217510/3 "2003-12-08T01:32:56Z")

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I suspect foreign governments routinely target specific US administrations. I am sure that US administrations routinely target specific foreign governments too.

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**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-europe-playing-politics-foreign-influence-on-us-elections/217510/4 "2003-12-08T23:03:09Z")

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One might take the view that the reluctance of both the EU and the UN to become embroiled in Iraq has rather more to do with hampering Bush’s re-election chances than any moral or legal standpoint. YMMV.

Fwiw, we did address this a couple of weeks ago.

Governments always try and influence whenever and whatever they can; it’s their job to do that. The US is only noticing it now because the EU is a bigger and more powerful body than the individual nations it comprises.

Of course, the US is no stranger to influencing other nations leaderships, some of them even elected.

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**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2003, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-europe-playing-politics-foreign-influence-on-us-elections/217510/5 "2003-12-11T12:38:30Z")

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Given that the 18 months during which the illegal tariffs were in place cost the EU around $300M which we will never see again, and supposedly created a “window of breathing space” for the US steel industry, there is **still** scope for such well targetted retaliatory sanctions, just in case the US ever felt like creating similar illegal “windows” in future.

However, the EU will simply show the US how responsible, mature governments behave in such disputes and teach them the meaning of the word _dignity_, by foregoing such sanctions.