QUOTE
Five Reasons the World Wants Obama
By Melinda Brouwer, AlterNet. Posted September 1, 2008.
Global public opinion data shows a clear Obama trend across much of planet Earth.
http://www.alternet.org/
Excerpts:
First, foreign audiences perceive Senator Obama as giving them what they want -- a change in US policy. Those people around the world who support Senator Obama believe his promise of change -- and want him to make good on it.
The second reason flows from the first: Senator Obama is, plain and simple, not George W. Bush -- who, as we know, is hugely unpopular overseas. But then again, neither is John McCain. Yet, thanks in part to our razor thin political spectrum, it's safe to say that Senator Obama represents the antithesis of the current president. That part doesn't get lost in translation.
Third is the symbolism of electing an African American President. To elect Obama would paint American society as mature and tolerant. It would demonstrate that the American public possesses qualities that people abroad want it to posses (which are, not coincidentally, qualities that American society itself claims to posses).
Fourth, electing Senator Obama would reaffirm foreign publics' faith in another element of American society: its ability to reason. Back in 2004, to many abroad, Americans failed to choose the right candidate. Many outside the US didn't like George W. Bush even in 2000, and chuckled at the irony that a few dimpled chads prevented even a great democracy such as America's from holding a fair election.
My fifth and final theory on why the world wants Obama is the most mystical of all. Senator Obama's hybrid, international identity seems to magically appeal to people all over the world all at the same time -- without him even trying. His international upbringing makes him into a chameleon, from which foreign publics can pick and choose with which "Obama" they identify most -- the perceived Muslim, Asian, or African Obama, etc.
By Melinda Brouwer, AlterNet. Posted September 1, 2008.
Global public opinion data shows a clear Obama trend across much of planet Earth.
http://www.alternet.org/
Excerpts:
First, foreign audiences perceive Senator Obama as giving them what they want -- a change in US policy. Those people around the world who support Senator Obama believe his promise of change -- and want him to make good on it.
The second reason flows from the first: Senator Obama is, plain and simple, not George W. Bush -- who, as we know, is hugely unpopular overseas. But then again, neither is John McCain. Yet, thanks in part to our razor thin political spectrum, it's safe to say that Senator Obama represents the antithesis of the current president. That part doesn't get lost in translation.
Third is the symbolism of electing an African American President. To elect Obama would paint American society as mature and tolerant. It would demonstrate that the American public possesses qualities that people abroad want it to posses (which are, not coincidentally, qualities that American society itself claims to posses).
Fourth, electing Senator Obama would reaffirm foreign publics' faith in another element of American society: its ability to reason. Back in 2004, to many abroad, Americans failed to choose the right candidate. Many outside the US didn't like George W. Bush even in 2000, and chuckled at the irony that a few dimpled chads prevented even a great democracy such as America's from holding a fair election.
My fifth and final theory on why the world wants Obama is the most mystical of all. Senator Obama's hybrid, international identity seems to magically appeal to people all over the world all at the same time -- without him even trying. His international upbringing makes him into a chameleon, from which foreign publics can pick and choose with which "Obama" they identify most -- the perceived Muslim, Asian, or African Obama, etc.