The trope in the American media seems to be that Obama is beloved in Europe and the globe around. So in the spirit of the Illinois senator’s grand tour, here’s a sampling of what the foreign press really thinks. And the results aren’t all glowing.
You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away
The Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland writes that Europeans should curb their enthusiasm for the Democratic presidential candidate, in order to help him win at home:
“If Europeans really want to help Barack Obama next week they should repress their enthusiasm for him – and stay home. Ensure those crowds are thin and lethargic; maybe even offer the odd heckle, perhaps while brandishing a hostile placard. Let the travelling US press report that Obama is not so popular with foreigners after all: nothing will endear him more to the American public.
If it helps, bear all that in mind when Obama hits your neighbourhood. Remember, if you want him to win in November, do your duty – and do nothing.”
With A Little Help From My Friends…or Not
The Spanish news outlet ABC offers a pointed critique
of Obama’s foreign policy advisors:
The problem with the Democratic presidential candidate is that he has very poorly chosen his primary advisors. They add much experience, but of the wrong kind.
In foreign policy, one of his gurus, Zbigniew Brzezinski, was the security advisor for Jimmy Carter, during a time when policy blunders brought the Islamic Revolution of Ayatollah Khomeini, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the growing Russian presence in Africa, and the growth of communist guerillas in Central America, among other events.
His second greatest advisor, another brilliant intellectual, Anthony Lake, had major luck serving Clinton in the same position. Marginalizing himself in the Balkans, for example, he made possible the bloody civil war in the ancient Yugoslavia, not to mention other fiascos. This is the true problem that candidate Barack Obama represents for the world: He does not have experience, and his people are a group of fervent partisans that have accumulated a curriculum of dangerous failures. Now, America is in danger, and so are all of us.
Baby, It’s You
When Outlook India Magazine editors asked a reporter to secure an interview with Barack Obama, they couldn’t have expected how hard he’d fall for the senator. They also could’ve edited out the lovefest:
What began as a shot in the dark was to soon become an obsession for me. Perhaps it was because I was witness to the Obama mania sweeping America. To watch him campaign during those months was akin to experiencing a rock star inspire millions to dance to his tunes of hope. “Yes, we can”—his campaign slogan read. These simple words, transposed to my very specific situation, suddenly started making a lot of sense.
As you read the interview with Obama, I should tell you about my new goal: should he become the president, I wish to have him speak to Outlook in the White House. To think that I too started out as a doubter.
You Like Him Too Much
Israel’s YNet News accuses Obama of being a style-over-substance candidate:
Despite his relatively meager experience and the absence of any substantial achievements during his Senate career, the Democratic candidate has been able to take America by storm thanks to his explosive charisma, catchy messages, and promises of “change.”
Yet more than this teaches us about Obama’s nature, it mostly serves to inform us about the nature of our present-day world, where a flashy image and proper “branding” are the key to victory.
Practically Perfect
The Spanish paper El Mundo quoted Israeli publication Yair Lapid as saying that, if elected, Obama “will be the first neutral and objective president.” Yes, and also, when he sneezes, gold coins will come out of his ears. Seriously?
Got to Get You Into My Life
Germany’s Financial Times Deutschland suggests that enthusiasm for Obama is akin to a hot new trend:
However, this question must be asked: how much political savvy do those who celebrate Obama, a man who hasn’t yet had to accept any great responsibilities, really have? Obama is often praised for rekindling enthusiasm in democracy in people due to his drawing power. But mass obeisance to a charismatic leader really has little to do with democracy. On the contrary, the sociologist Max Weber describes charismatic domination as a condition that gains no legitimacy either through elections or tradition. The Obama-hype is similar to the month-long dance around the iPhone, except that the Apple cell phone will still have to submit to field trials.
Words of Snark
Agence France-Presse posted a particularly
tongue-in-cheek article about Obama’s press conference in Jordan. It’s uncharacteristically saucy for the wire service:
Katia Bachko is on staff at The New Yorker.Barack Obama strode onto the world stage on Tuesday with trademark audacity, or as his political enemies would have it, a dearth of humility, in the symbolic shadow of Jordan’s Temple of Hercules.
As he tries to convince Americans he will keep them safe, the White House hopeful held his first major press conference abroad as presumptive Democratic nominee near ancient Roman ruins and a shrine to the mighty Greek mythic hero.
Overlooking sun-bleached homes and minarets of the Jordanian capital, Obama spoke about his stealth mission to Iraq, against a backdrop seemingly chosen to suggest a young dynamic potential president, at home and abroad.
