First reactions to Obama’s victory
November 7th, 2012Online headlines posted in the early morning hours tend to reflect the papers’ ideological leanings. Népszava enthusiastically welcomes the result of the US presidential elections, while the two right-wing national dailies express cautious reservations.
“Romney crushed by Obama,” Népszava celebrates in its main online title. On the Republican side, the paper comments, the only person with grounds for satisfaction may be Jeb Bush, as the Texan governor can start preparing right away for the Republican nomination in 2016.
“Obama won’t celebrate for long,” runs the main headline on Magyar Nemzet online. After the first happy hours, András Kovács suggests, President Obama will have to face dire financial issues, for urgent measures are required to reduce the federal debt.
Magyar Hírlap’s leading headline is more outspoken in expressing its disappointment: “Obama’s victory might lead into a blind alley.” If the President doesn’t manage to agree with the Republicans on next year’s federal budget, Mihály Szalontay argues, a 600 billion dollar restrictive package will automatically come into force, with swift recession as an inevitable consequence.
In its final comment posted when voting was already underway in the United States, Népszabadság suggested that it was pointless to ask which of the two candidates would be preferable for Hungary. International affairs analyst Gábor Horváth believes “we can find common ground, or fail to get along with either. This will depend on us at least as much as on them.”