EUROBAMANIA

I don’t know if you had a chance to follow Obama’s trip across Europe. I watched several reports in the German news, then in the French news, and he was unanimously being cheered like a rock star. As a French loving and living in the United States, I was pleased to see those pictures of true “pro-Americanism” in Europe. But I wonder how the American voters may react, and I thought this blog might be a good place to get some answers.

How does it feel as an American citizen to see a presidential candidate being praised by an overwhelming crowd of more than 20,000 or 200,000 Germans? How do American voters react watching a French president welcoming Obama as an almost-president of the United States and clearly endorsing his candidacy?

In a recent survey of 6,200 people in Europe by YouGov, Obama was favored by an overwhelming majority in Italy (70% vs 15% for Mc Cain), Germany (67% vs. 6%) and in France (65% vs. 8%). Only Russia (surprisingly considered as part of Europe in that survey) would support Obama by only 34% and gives Mc Cain a decent 28% credit (see here for more results and comments on this poll). This strong support lies in the perception that Obama would lead America in a way that better matches the European interests as well. He’s regarded by many Europeans as a kind of messiah, who will finally get the most powerful nation in the world back to reason: fighting Al-Quaeda where it really lies in Afghanistan – not in Iraq – and eventually joining European nations in their fight against climate change. Again, this is the general perception in Europe (please do not draw conclusions about my personal views on this .

Europeans – and especially the French – have great interest in the coming American election. By supporting Obama, my opinion is that they favor change in the French-American relationship rather than Obama’s program for change. In Berlin, most of the crowd that cheered Obama did not even speak English, and a lot may have joined just to be part of a mediatic event. However, I like to see it as a gathering against anti-Americanism, and a hope for renewed friendship after a long period of tense diplomacy.

You tell me if American voters may trust a candidate with such suspicious friends abroad (facts are: the European support did not really help John Kerry enter the White House!). But I can tell you this: this “simple U.S. Senator” – as he presented himself – did more for America’s image across Europe in 3 days than the entire Bush administration in a decade (and this is a personal opinion you can now sneer at) )