The whispers of Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev in Seoul are of no interest to Americans, even in light of the elections. There are much more important problems for them

Looking from Moscow, it may seem that Barack Obama, who during the last meeting whispered something not quite, from an American point of view, “patriotic” in Dmitry Medvedev’s ear, will now have a hard time. They say that the Republicans will peck him for being “soft” towards Russia on the missile defense issue. However, our “hawks”, who are proud of the fact that we are still terrible for Americans, should not delude themselves.

Let me remind you: Obama promised Medvedev during their last meeting in Seoul that he could be “more flexible” on the issue of missile defense after his re-election to a second term. Medvedev, in turn, promised to “pass this on to Vladimir.” The confidential conversation was heard by journalists - the microphones turned out to be on. Not only is Twitter now abuzz with the “I’ll give this to Vladimir” theme, but the Republicans have decided to ride what they believe is the right horse to attack Obama in the election campaign. They are trying to use the plot to its fullest. Mitt Romney, leading by a two-to-one margin over his closest rival Rick Santorum in the Republican primaries, declared Russia “the main geopolitical opponent”, which every time acts in the international arena in spite of America, supporting its enemies like Syria or Iran. And the speaker of the House of Representatives of the US Congress (where the Republicans have a majority, therefore, the speaker is a Republican) John Banner issued a lengthy appeal on behalf of his faction, accusing Obama of neglecting national interests. And before this, Congress had already adopted a resolution warning against any concessions to Russia on the missile defense issue. This, in particular, is a sure sign that in the future we can hardly expect Congress to ratify any agreement with Moscow on this topic (this requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate, where the Democrats do not have such a majority and are not expected to do so).

Obama's promise of "flexibility" should not be exaggerated. In this case, he just wanted to say the following: friend Dmitry, leave me alone with this missile defense now, the elections will be held, we’ll see; and a completely different person will already take over your duties (for some reason, our commentators do not allow the idea that Obama’s phrase was in fact just a polite form of indicating that it is generally useless to talk to Medvedev).

As for the Republicans, they are now solving their internal problems. It is extremely important for Romney to prove to the core of his party that he is “to the right of the Pope.” The Republican Party has moved strongly (some say unacceptably) to the right in recent years. It is the conservatives who set the tone in the primaries, including those from the faction of the so-called Tea Party, whose views can hardly be called anything other than terry. For the Tea Party, even our well-known Senator John McCain, who never misses an opportunity to kick Russia and Putin personally, is considered soft-hearted. And now the former governor of Massachusetts Romney, who “fined himself” to conservatives with his controversial statements and actions regarding same-sex marriage, abortion and medical reform, is trying to take revenge on the “Russian issue.”

This may help him win the primaries. But on the scale of a federal campaign against Obama, the “Russian issue” is unlikely to be of significant importance. Russia occupies one of the last places in the minds of Americans. Certainly after Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, the Islamic world as a whole and China. And far behind all domestic political issues. Moreover, today the attitude towards Russia in America is one of the most favorable in recent decades. Which sharply contrasts with the extent of the spread of anti-Americanism at the everyday and political level in our country.

According to polls, the most negative attitude towards Russia was observed in the United States in the early 1980s. In 1983 (Harrispoll data) 93% of Americans believed that the USSR was either unfriendly to the United States or was its enemy. In 1990, 32% of US citizens believed that the USSR was the “main threat” to America (data from Pew Research). Over the next 10 years, the Americans steadily became kinder to us: already in 1993, two-thirds called us a friendly power.

Today, views on the “Russian issue,” which in recent years have slipped to the bottom of the list of American priorities, are blurred, as on any non-key issue. This year, only 2% of the population considered us their main enemy (which would be almost consonant with Romney’s statement). The last short-term spike in “hostility” towards us happened in August 2008, during the war with Georgia, but a year later everything calmed down again. More than 50% of those polled by Gallup in February 2012 had a “favorable” view of Russia.

These days, Americans are much more concerned about a completely different scandal, with which Obama’s whispering with Medvedev cannot be compared. We are talking about the murder at the end of February of a 17-year-old black teenager, Trevor Martin, by a Spanish-speaking “vigilante” George Zimmerman (he is one of the civilian volunteers patrolling his suburbs as part of the Neighborhood Watch program). Zimmerman, in his car and in his free time, was patrolling the neighborhood in the rain when he noticed Martin walking slowly with a hood covering his head. Zimmerman called the police, reported a suspicious person, and then, when he got out of the car, was attacked by a teenager. During the ensuing skirmish, he shot him, acting on the basis of the Florida State Self-Defense Law “Stand Your Ground” (feeling a threat to personal safety, a person has the right not to run away from the threat, but to use a weapon). Now there are massive demonstrations of blacks - several tens of thousands each - across the country. They accuse Zimmerman and the authorities of racism - they say, as a black man, he is immediately suspicious (Martin, by the way, was not found to have any weapons). They demand retribution. Obama himself said that Trevor “would look like my son” if Obama had one (by the way, in Trevor’s backpack they found women’s jewelry and a flat-head screwdriver, which is good for opening windows and cars, and also traces of marijuana) . In the House of Representatives, Democratic Congressman from Illinois Bobby Rush spoke in solidarity with the murdered man. He spoke with a hood pulled down over his forehead, which caused an incredible scandal and his removal from the podium.

This is what America is actually arguing about today, this is the issue on which politicians are called upon to decide, this is what ends up on the front pages of newspapers and on television news, this is what polarizes society, in which the election balance today is still on Obama’s side. Obama will lose the election to the same Romney (other Republican candidates have zero chances against him) only if he commits some kind of “political suicide.” Let’s say, if it turns out that he not only promised Medvedev “flexibility” on the missile defense issue after the elections, but also took a bribe for it - with money or Gazprom shares. But this is unlikely.

What worries America: Russians or Trevor Martin