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September 6, 2008 11:28:34 PM CDT

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Old World Thinks He's the Messiah

Posted Jul 11, 08 7:39 AM CDT in World,  Politics,  Opinion 

(Newser) – Barack Obama's trip to Europe this month might not do much for his electoral chances at home. But the Old World doesn't care, writes Financial Times columnist Philip Stephens; when the candidate arrives he "can expect to be greeted as a messiah." Europeans have been starstruck by Obama, and they seem to think that this November's election is little more than a formality.

At home, the election hinges on domestic matters—the economy, gas prices, health care—but Europeans imagine that the vote is a referendum on American foreign policy. They might be in for a rude awakening come 2009, when a President Obama still puts American interest s first. "The leader of what is still the world’s most powerful nation," writes Stephens, "will never think like a woolly postmodern European."

Source Financial Times (UK)

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Angela Merkel, Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown are all planning to meet Barack Obama this month.   (AP Photo/Portuguese Presidency, ho)
Barack Obama talks with visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Thursday, April 17, 2008, during a meeting at the British Embassy in Washington.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
James Partsch-Galvan shows his support for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama.   (AP Photo)
Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, is joined by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., during a campaign stop in New York, Thursday, July 10, 2008.   (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at a fundraiser in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2008.   (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at a fundraiser in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2008.   (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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Barack Obama  • election 2008  • Europe  • diplomacy  • foreign policy


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