With friends like this...

The British newspaper The Guardian decided to launch a campaign. Their objective was to have readers throughout Europe send letters to a county in the swing-state Ohio sharing their thoughts on the presidential race.

As someone who strongly opposes President Bush's policies and fervently hopes he does not serve four more years, I was appalled by this campaign. The sheer presumptuousness of it is much closer to the European caricature of Americans than of itself.

It's clear that the folks at The Guardian don't have the slightest idea of the mentality of the area they're targeting. Most places in the United States, especially Middle America, don't like being told what to do by foreigners. Most people in America would react to this campaign with the phrase: "Mind your own [expletive] business."

Of course, the result of the election is Europe's business. And Asia's. And the Middle East's. And maybe Africa's. The US government's policies affect the whole world. Be it Washington's missionary work spreading the gospel of (sort of) free trade and privatization above all else. Be it invading random countries for dubious reasons. Be it demanding free and fair elections every where but here.

So yes, the result of the election is the rest of the world's business. But the rest of the world doesn't have a vote.

While The Guardian and its readers are free to have opinions, they're better off limiting them to the pages of its newspaper. I'm sure most The Guardian's readers wish my government would mind its own business. I'd heartily agree with them. But unless their objective is purely pedantic, then the point isn't simply to be right.

Their letter-writing campaign, essentially trying to convince Ohioans to vote for John Kerry, is sure to do more harm than good. It will be seized upon by the right to "prove" that those who don't have America's best interests at heart (or their perverse interpretation thereof) oppose Bush. Therefore, by implication, Bush must be the right choice. No matter how "courteous and sensitive" the letter, it's still a foreigner giving unsolicited advice on our politics. Americans don't like that.

I don't doubt that Americans should listen to the rest of the world, for once, even though they won't like it. But is this the right time? Will it achieve the result the campaigners hope? I doubt it.

US neo-conservatives are accused of not having a clue about the culture of countries they hope to invade and occupy. Similarly, if The Guardian's editors think this campaign will be a net benefit for the cause of defeating Bush, then it's clear that they don't have a clue about American culture. I give them the same advice I'd give our government in Washington: don't mess with what you don't understand.

The Guardian's noble, but wickedly counterproductive effort, reminds me of the admonition in Graham Greene's brilliant novel The Quiet American: "I've never met someone with such good intentions for all the trouble he causes."

In that case, it was the world-weary but wise European journalist admonishing the well-intentioned but naive American. How the tables have turned.