America's Ugly Self-Portrait Posted by Adam Blickstein

America clearly has a despondent yet accurately reflexive view of its place in the world, this according to new polls out from Gallup last week.  And while the distortions along partisan lines are what you might expect, with Republicans having a rosier view of America's position in the world (60%) than Democrats (18%), the take away is that American opinion seem to be in line with  the opinion from abroad: that our strategic failures overseas have wounded our international image and tarnished America's standing in the world.  The 68% dissatisfaction rating is the highest in Gallup's history, even higher than during the Vietnam Era.  While it's nearly impossible to be optimistic while reading the poll, at least its comforting to know that the nation as a whole —sans the partisan disparity—has at least a realistic notion of America's diminished international prestige. By simply electing a new President in November, these numbers should begin to improve, but undoing the damage the Bush Administration has wrought on our image abroad, including our own impressions of America's place in the world, will take more than just superficial power transition to fix.