Living word by word: American politics from across the pond

In our small sample of European life (sample of countries so far: three), we have witnessed a lot of interest in the American election over here, particularly in Obama’s candidacy.

For good historical reasons, Germans in particular pay a lot of attention to politics, and don’t view it as a taboo subject. A few weeks ago we met up with an older couple who were out on their bikes for a Sunday afternoon. After “Guten Tag” and “Woher kommen Sie?” (where are you from), the next question was, “who are you voting for in the election?” The third question! Likewise, the German rail magazine featured an interview with Jodie Foster this month, and the first question posed was about whether she's supporting Obama.

As for Obama, again our relatively small sample shows lots of support for him. When he sealed the nomination last week, the papers were full of front-page pictures of him. Die Zeit had a half-page headshot with the headline: “A President for the World: what it would mean for the most powerful man in the world no longer to be a white man” (it’s a little snappier in the German than that). Taz, a left-leaning more gossipy paper had a picture of the White House with the title “Uncle Obama’s House” – which isn’t quite as snarky as it sounds in the English.

In France there's at least as much interest, if not more because there's a sizable African emigre population. The headline of the Parisien, which appeared larger than life all over the city this past weekend, translates “How he’s changing America : the Obama Revolution.” The French, of course, are very fond of revolutions.

Despite Bill Clinton’s enormous popularity in Europe during his Presidency, there don’t seem to be too many people grieving Hillary’s losses. One thing is very clear: people around here are really hoping that the U.S. will take a different course beginning in 2009.