World captivated by US presidential race

By William J. KOLE,
Associated Press Writer
Fri Feb 1, 6:30 AM ET

Germans are gaga over Barack Obama. He's got Japan pretty jazzed, too,
along with Hillary Rodham Clinton. Russia's leaders, not so much: they
prefer a Republican - as long as it's not Kremlin critic John McCain.
And Mexico's president? He doesn't have much use for any of them.

America's extraordinary presidential campaign has captivated
politicians and ordinary people around the globe. With so much at
stake in the race for the White House, the world is watching with an
intensity that hasn't been seen since the Clinton era began in 1992.

After eight years of President Bush, the latest mantra in U.S.
politics - "transformational change" - is resonating across the rest
of a planet desperate for a fresh start.

"They feel there's a real chance to work with the U.S.," said Julianne
Smith, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Strategic
and International Studies. "America's image in the world is really on
the line."

Non-Americans, she said, are looking for someone who can "restore
faith in the United States."

Obama, perhaps not surprisingly, is generating most of the buzz
abroad. "Der schwarze Kennedy," some German admirers are calling him:
"The black JFK." "He is young, charming and sexy!" the
mass-circulation newspaper Bild gushed. "Obama is now the ideal
projection screen for hopes and expectations in Europe" and the U.S.
alike, said Christian Hacke, a professor at the University of Bonn.

"I like him. I like his ideas, his attitude, his appearance. I prefer
him to Hillary Clinton, who is more artificial," said Eva Berto, a
Rome doctor who thinks Obama would bring a new approach to the crisis
in Iraq and the nuclear standoff with Iran.

Japanese media are closely tracking both Obama and the woman they
refer to simply as "Hillary," and focusing on the possibility that
either could make history.

"The idea since the country's founding 'You can't become president if
you're not a white man' has already been destroyed," the Mainichi
newspaper said in an editorial.

But in Europe, where some see Obama as untested, support for Clinton
is widespread, and nostalgia for her husband's charisma runs deep.
When scandals rocked the Clinton White House, most Europeans responded
with a Gallic shrug. "Nobody in Europe ever took Bill Clinton's
problems in office seriously," said Patrick Dunleavy, a political
scientist at the London School of Economics. "Nobody could ever
understand why Americans were so upset. Bill Clinton was always a
fantastic presence in Europe."

The Republican presidential hopefuls, by contrast, are not highly
regarded in Europe: Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are seen as too
religious, and the 71-year-old McCain as too old.

To Britons, history's most popular postwar presidents were Jimmy
Carter and Bill Clinton because of their perceived levelheadedness and
intelligence, said Dunleavy. The most despised? President Bush and
Ronald Reagan "because they were seen as erratic and unpredictable,"
he said.

Yet Democrats don't rule the entire world of public opinion.
Saad al-Hadithi, a political analyst in Baghdad, contends the
Republican candidates are more committed to Iraq and have a better
approach. "They show more support to the political progress and to
combating terrorist groups in Iraq," he said. "The Democrats,
especially Hillary Clinton, are calling for the withdrawal of U.S.
forces, but they are not offering an alternative. Such a withdrawal
while the Iraqi security forces are still weak will lead to disastrous
results."

Russia's leaders also consider Republicans more pragmatic, said Nkolai
Petrov, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center. But the Kremlin,
Petrov said, would likely have "serious concerns" if McCain wins the
Republican nomination because of the Arizona senator's harsh and
persistent criticism of Vladimir Putin's autocratic government.
Others in Russia are drawn to the lively U.S. campaign if only because
it's such a sharp contrast to Moscow's tightly choreographed March 2
presidential election - a contest that Putin's favored successor,
Dmitry Medvedev, is seen as certain to win.

Africans naturally gravitate toward Obama, whose father was from
Kenya.

Israelis, though, seem to prefer Hillary Clinton - even though Obama
has voiced support for key Israeli demands in peace talks with the
Palestinians - because of her experience and the backing Bill Clinton
gave to the Jewish state during his two terms as president.

Amid the raging debate over immigration, Mexicans arguably have more
at stake in the U.S. election than any other nation. But President
Felipe Calderon doesn't think very highly of any of the candidates.
"The only theme," he declared in December, "is to compete to see who
can be the most swaggering, macho and anti-Mexican."

In the post-Bush era, the bottom line is blunt and simple, Dunleavy
said. "People all around the world are pretty worried," he said. "They
want a president who will restore a kind of U.S. legitimacy in the
world."
_
It is true that most of the non-Americans fantasize about the US
elections. It is not really because America is the most powerful
country on earth but simply a psychological substitute for the dummy
politicians they have to endure locally.
Of course, Foreigners are not voters and they are rarely interested
in the domestic policy of the US candidates. This makes their opinion
totally goofy, something that my compatriots 'a la Maxwell' cannot
apprehend.
This said, none of the present US candidates seems to be a senile
polygamist general, a so-called 'Democrat' that loudly licks the a*s
of martial putchists or a foulmouthed geriatric cook...
In other words, I'm pretty sure that many khon Thais have their own
strong idea about the best US candidate!

:-o
Free Mort
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Campaigning is a Science, too.
    ... Clinton become our next President! ... accomplish that one thing will require holding principles of DEMOCRACY ... win against that retard McCain, and that Johnny-Come-Lately, Obama. ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: Democrats Do It Again
    ... Having bill Clinton around on a daily basis to exercise both ... Fact the Dumbya was very likely our worst president ever is ... Obama is certainly not that person. ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Der Spiegel: GOODBYE, COWBOY DIPLOMACY
    ... Who will be America's next president, Barack Obama or John McCain, or ... US Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has ... Barack Obama looked weary and, for the first time in this marathon ... McCain is No Dream Republican Candidate ...
    (soc.culture.china)
  • Hitlary, Desperate for Attention Over the Weekend, Humiliates Afghanistan
    ... N.C. - Hillary Rodham Clinton said the assassination attempt Sunday on the Afghan president shows that the U.S. has failed to give proper attention to Afghanistan. ... She returned to the southern state, where her opponent Barack Obama is favored, after spending two days campaigning in Indiana and appealing to working-class voters who have helped propel her to victory in Pennsylvania and Ohio. ...
    (alt.politics)
  • Re: Democrats Do It Again
    ... that Clinton was nothing spectacular, but in relation to what we had recently, his performance was more than adequate. ... Fact the Dumbya was very likely our worst president ever is irrelevant to how I measured Clinton. ... Obama is certainly not that person. ... Bill is staying up late strategizing and recasting her message and speeches. ...
    (soc.retirement)