Exactly what is "European-style Socialism?"

I can´t explain it either - as it is different in the different European countries.

It's a code word for "scary change." Vague enough not to invite criticism, but triggering xenophobia.

Germany's socialism seems to be doing quite well, by the way.

I'm beginning to think that Obama haters just play madlibs using words with negative connotations.

Ha, ha, B'net. You have been joined by H20 man with his wisdom about Obama.
There goes the neighborhood.

Not me, and I think you're asking the wrong question. The very vagueness of the term "European-style Socialism" is an important part of its appeal to American conservatives. One the one hand, you have "European-style Socialists" like Lukashenko in Belarus. They torture their opposition in jails, would still run Gulags in Siberia if they were in charge of Siberia, and have the government run virtually the whole economy. On the other hand, you have "European-style Socialists" like Tony Blair in Britain. They approve of free markets, and merely supplement them with a decent safety net.

These two sorts of politicians have nothing to do with one another. But by calling them both "European-style Socialists", American conservatives can smear America's very moderate social reformers with the stench of the Gulag and the KGB. So don't get confused when you don't understand what "European-style Socialism" means. That's the point. You're not supposed to understand it!

Paranoid=conservative

If it's a drink, it doesn't have ice in it.

A
R
That's how you know it's European.

Just check out Sweden - they got socialism there.

The irony in this statement is almost every country on the planet would be considered socialist by the mysterious American litmus test. For years it was the scary Canadian socialists. I guess the new objective is to strive to create fear with the exotic. The EU has standardized expectations of health care and holidays that are foreign concepts in the US. And somehow... this creates fear. Go figure.

Sweden has not got socialism.
Sweden is a social democratic country, and at the moment the government is an alliance between the more bourgois parties.
The Swede is in no way a socialist, a conservativ Swede would as a rule not call someone from the other party a socialist either. Depending on the other person you would maybe call him a sosse.