Global Midterm Fallout - a World Watches

LONDON --The shockwaves from Tuesday night's big GOP wins in the midterm elections are being felt "across the pond" in the UK and elsewhere.

The results came in after most British newspapers' put their editions to bed, but the news made it to some late editions.

The left-leaning Guardian declared "America Turns to the Right."

The middle-of-the-road Times of London entitled its coverage "Obama on the Rack."

And the Spectator magazine's latest issue has a drawing of Sarah Palin and Uncle Sam sticking President Obama head first into a "tea pot" over the headline, "Obama in Hot Water."

Television coverage on all-news channels in England was wall-to-wall, with interest higher for "off-year" elections than anyone could remember.

Fox's sister network Sky News capped its coverage this morning with anchor Colin Brazier saying :

"No he can't...that's what American voters effectively told Barack Obama overnight."

Like other countries, the UK public are big fans of President Obama. The Spectator's editor Fraser Nelson told Fox Tuesday night's Democratic losses might mean Brits would re-adjust their view of the President.

"Obama has gone from being superhuman to being very, very mortal," Nelson told us. "As we see from these results he gets hit and he bleeds. I think this will change a lot of people's understanding of him in Europe."

Officials around the world speculated on the foreign policy fall-out from the GOP win.

Danny Danon, a member of Israel's Knesset, speculated that Israeli interests would benefit. "I think President Obama received a very clear message from the American people...he should take his hands off Jerusalem."

The Director of the Human Rights Commission in Afghanistan, Nader Nadery, thought it could mean quicker approval by Congress for funds earmarked for his country.

But Germany's Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle summed up the majority view that foreign policy would not be affected by the election.

"One would massively underestimate the President if one thought he would be weakened in foreign policy," Westerwelle said.

Still a change in domestic policy due to the election outcome is widely viewed as a given.

The UK is watching this shift especially closely. Its new Center-Right coalition government (like other countries in Europe) is in the middle of cutting government programs to reduce deficits.

The Spectator's Nelson says the Tea Party movement-backed gains just nudge the US closer to where the UK is.

"Their agenda sounds pretty much like common sense," Nelson noted to us, "certainly as that is described by the British government right now."

Finally, officials overseas today raised concerns about a divided US government.

"American politics will be locked," said former Danish Foreign Minister Mogens Lykketoft.

With many still counting on the US for global leadership on a range of issues, many are hoping, the US still "can."