This was the picture on the front page of the “Heute” this morning. The “Heute” is a free daily newspaper available in all Ubahn(subway) stations. Roughly translated, the text says:
* Change – The black Kennedy has done it.
* The Blitz – Special edition about Barack Obamas’s clear victory
* All the news, photos about the US Election.
The typical European, and Austria is no exception, is unapologetically pro-Obama. After the last presidential election many Europeans I know were completely baffled as to how George W. Bush was elected for a second term. They honestly couldn’t begin to comprehend why anyone, much less the majority of Americans, would cast their vote for him.
There are a few reasons for that and I think a lot of those pertain to the fact that the issues effecting the average European are not as broad as the ones that effect the average American. Europeans see a fumbled war in Iraq, a financial meltdown, and a frankly uncharsimatic Commander in Chief. And while these issues are important to Americans, things like domestic tax policy, education and health care reform, and ethical issues such as abortion also factor into the mix.
What was really interesting to me is how fervently people in Europe supported Obama. It wasn’t like this when John Kerry ran 4 years ago. Sure Europeans disliked Bush and wanted him out of office, but I never saw people walking around Vienna with John Kerry buttons pinned to their lapels. I’ve seen Obama buttons and T-shirts worn by European Obama supporters, and I used to think, “Why do they care?” They can’t even vote.”
Now I think a bit differently. Europeans care because the actions of the US President effect the whole world. This is clearly demonstrated by a number of decisions, but two big ones are the War on Terror and the current financial meltdown. Each of these circumstances has had a profound effect on the world. It’s not only US troops fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, and terror attacks have been seen in England, Spain, and Denmark just to name a few. Likewise, the financial crisis has a broader impact than the borders of the USA and has bottomed out stock markets in Europe, Asia and beyond.
So even though they don’t have official votes, I think it wise for people in Europe to care who our president is. And for better or worse they agree with the nearly 63 million Americans who believe Obama is the better choice.