Ulf Gartzke, a visiting scholar at
the BMW Center for German and European
Studies at Georgetown University in
Washington, writes that many Europeans are
captivated by and invested in the outcome of
the US presidential election campaign:
In
electing a young black politician with a
Muslim father, Americans would do
something that is pretty much
unthinkable in any country in Europe,
where politics are traditionally
dominated by a white old boy's club
(notable exceptions like German
chancellor Angela Merkel
notwithstanding). In this context,
however, Europeans must not forget that
Obama (despite having a very
Europe-savvy foreign policy team) is not
known to be an Atlanticist. Senator
Clinton, for her part, has many European
admirers dating back to her time in the
White House with Bill, who remains a
very popular figure in Europe.
According to Gartzke, McCain would be
good for Europe as well:
Senator
McCain, too, would represent a clear
break with several of the Bush
administration policies that Europeans
find particularly egregious. He would
close Guantanamo, ban the torture of
U.S. detainees, and, most important,
would get serious about the fight
against global warming. Furthermore, the
decorated war veteran is strongly
committed to NATO
Read Gartzke's entire article "If
Europe Could Vote" in
The Weekly Standard.
Personal comments: I believe
Gartzke's views of the presidential
candidates are representative for the German
policy community, perhaps even for the wider
European group of politicians and policy
analysts: A preference of Clinton and McCain
over Obama.
The German public would elect Barack
Obama.
According to a Forsa poll from early
February, 43 per cent of Germans said that
Obama would be a better president, compared
to 39 per cent for Hillary Clinton.
Interestingly enough, a supporters of the
Left party and of the Christian
conservatives mostly prefer Clinton, while
supporters of the Social Democrats, Free
Liberals and the Green Party mostly prefer
Obama. (Source is this German
Stern
article.) Gartze also describes how the
European media and "big chunks of public
opinion" are gripped by "Obamania."
Endnote:
Reuters reports that Senator Obama urged
European nations to step up their efforts in
Afghanistan:
"You
can't have a situation where the United
States is called upon to do the dirty
work, or the United States and Britain
are called upon to do the dirty work,
and nobody else wants to engage in
actual firefights with the Taliban."
