Europe Would Vote Obama

Why such a bias? One would ask, why? Why do you have to ask, its obvious would be the reply. Here on the old continent we see politics as a sport; we have multitudes of parties, all competing for the title, but when it comes to appraising American politics, Europeans have no doubts, Obama must win, or else....

Maybe its because long term memory is more common in a multi-lingual continent than in the United States, or maybe its because we can't see the whole picture from here, but the message is unmistakable, we've had enough of Bush Junior, and Bush Senior, of their Texan cowboy style, the international bullying, of the ability of a nation such as the US to elect an encore of obtuse presidents.

According to a 2008 poll conducted by the Telegraph in Britian: ".....only 16 per cent of Russians see America as a "force for good" in the world. In Britain, the total was 33 per cent and in France, only 28 per cent. As recently as 2000, a global attitudes survey found that 83 per cent of Britons and 62 per cent of the French had a "favourable" view of America."

How could have the George Bush administration ruin the reputation of the U.S. so badly. In Britain alone there was a change of heart of 50% of the respondents.

The bias comes easily and flowingly. Europeans, a mix of countries with a majority of conservative political leanings, would rather elect the Democrats than the Republicans, and the reason comes in big bold letters: NO MORE USELESS WARS! That is the general sentiment in Europe. Albeit the evidence of the non-existence of weapons of mass-destruction in Iraq, the Bush administration goes on with the war in Iraq, leading to horrible deaths and executions on our doorstep, the middle east, inspiring racial hate, the mobilization of refugees the de-stabilization of entire economies and ultimately the increase of oil prices. No more of that!

But how can we be sure? We can't; it might turn out that nothing would change if Obama is elected, but he is our safest bet. Here, it was never a matter of experience for the job, neither a matter of gender. Europeans would feel the same way if Mrs Clinton was the candidate, or anybody else, who is not associated with any Bush administration.

Extremely ironic is the fact that it would be an impossible task for a candidate like Obama to be so strong if he were to run for election in a European country. Not due to racism; although minorities have been neglected for a long time in Europe and both the natives and the immigrants have become sore of the failed attempts at integration. Politically though Europe has never given the top-job to a representative of a minority group, quite possibly because of a lack of good integration and the loosely knit social groups. Obama, the half-Kenyan candidate finally, offers an example of how it is possible for the minorities to be solidly intergrated, by holding the highest rank in the American government and working for a common good.

But then again, as newsweek.com puts it, "What happens if Obama loses, now that so many Europeans have invested their hopes in his victory? The Atlantic that grew just a bit smaller last week will be just as wide as usual."