Article: Germans Would Vote for Him

The Atlantic Times, an English language news magazine in Germany focused on links with the US, runs a cover article this month on Obamania by Christoph Keese. Some clippings:

"German’s favorite politician at the moment is Barack Obama. Every popularity poll shows the American hopeful for the Democratic presidential nomination beating the German chancellor, as well as party and regional leaders. The leading news magazine, Der Spiegel, put Obama on its cover a few weeks ago. The headline read: “The Messiah Factor − Barack Obama and the Yearning for a New America.”... That hope for a messiah is contagious. In the next issue, Der Spiegel printed a letter to the editor from a reader in the rural Rhineland. He wrote that Obama was a personification of the alternative to so many career politicians who “chat their way through trivial TV talk shows with their selfishness, lust for power and self-importance.” The reader ended by pleading “Barack, please come to Germany!”

"A certain initial euphoria can be expected among average citizens. But the degree of respect that Obama commands at even the highest levels of the German government is amazing. Officially, the authorities are neutral. There is no public hint of preference for either Republicans or Democrats or for a particular candidate. But behind closed doors, there is a clear stand in favor of Obama. Germany is governed by a grand coalition of the center-right (the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Union) and the left-leaning Social Democrats (SPD). So it certainly can’t be taken for granted that the leadership of both camps would be impressed with Obama’s charisma and energy. But Obama doesn’t split German politicians along left-right lines. The tone he strikes seems above partisan politics."

"Germans also favor Obama’s style. Even in the heat of campaign battles, he has not yet been drawn into mudslinging. He seems to float above daily politics but without losing sight of the needs of ordinary people. That combination strikes a deep chord. It reveals the longing for a political class that displays moral leadership... Finally, Obama articulates something that has fallen completely out of fashion in the midst of the realpolitik of the past decades − a political vision for society. He goes beyond the next four years and looks at entire decades. He calls upon people not to see the world around them as unchangeable. He tells people who are stuck in a rut or a poorly-paid job, who are angry at the decay of public services, who go through life bent under the burden of their situations − he tells these people that things can change if the will is there."