FACE TO FACE: Barack Obama is popular in Canada - but should he be?
U.S. President Barack Obama has the sizzle but doesn't have the substance.
Yes, he is an articulate and skilled orator but so was Eddie, the guy who sold me a lemon of a used car.
Unfortunately, being a great speaker doesn't make a great president - results matter.
And in my view, Barack Obama doesn't have a lot of results to show.
After three years in office, $4.3 trillion has been added to the U.S. national debt and the country's budget deficit had quadrupled.
Gasoline prices have skyrocketed, home sales have tanked, the U.S. dollar is weak and unemployment is at a whopping 8.1% (not to mention the nine million people forced to leave the workforce).
Moreover, Obama's hands-off foreign policy has made the U.S. into a declining world power. He pulled troops from Iraq too early and is about to leave Afghanistan too early at the risk of a Taliban resurgence.
His popularity is perplexing - especially in Canada.
A recent survey suggests that 55% of Canadians think Obama deserves to be re-elected in November. I would guess that no Canadian prime minister has seen those types of approval ratings since the early days of Trudeau-mania.
Canada's love affair with the U.S. president was no more evident than last week, when the president proclaimed his support for gay marriage. I'm not against his announcement but I don't understand all the hoopla.
Let's remember that Obama had already announced it years ago in a campaign brochure; let's not forget that he only brought it up now because his gaffe-prone vice-president did so a week earlier; and let's remember that this announcement will do nothing to change anti-gay marriage laws in states such as North Carolina.
Nevertheless, people north of the border can't stop fawning over him.
There have also been other examples of misplaced praise.
Obama was glorified for the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden. Who wouldn't have given the order once the CIA found him?
He's also credited for "Obama-care" but that's years away from being implemented and could even be in jeopardy if the courts have their way.
Put away the pom-poms Canada, Obama's record is dismal. Bring on Mitt Romney.
Andy Radia is a Coquitlam resident and political columnist who writes for Yahoo! Canada News and Vancouver View Magazine. He has been politically active in the Tri-Cities, having been involved with election campaigns at all three levels of government, including running for Coquitlam city council in 2005.
