Europe Can't Wait for Obama

Europe is brimming with excitement for the arrival of Barack Obama next week, but his supporters are hoping not to hurt him with too tight an embrace, the Los Angeles Times reports. British, French and German polls show strong support for Obama, but as the Guardian warned, “To be seen as Europe’s pet is the last thing a presidential candidate needs— especially one who wants to shed his elitist image with white working-class American voters.”

Still, "the world is waiting to love America again,” wrote the London Observer. One professor there said European leaders have a lot of “good vibes” to be gained from just sitting down with Obama. One French observer, however, noted that Europe loved the French-speaking John Kerry four years ago. "Look at what good that did him." (More Barack Obama stories.)