How They See Obama Overseas

New Republic scribe dissects what the world thinks of Democratic candidate
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 16, 2008 3:19 PM CST
How They See Obama Overseas
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks at a town hall meeting at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, Iowa, on Monday, Nov. 19, 2007. Obama said Monday his childhood experience in Asia and his family in Kenya give him a greater foreign policy understanding than politicians,...   (Associated Press)

It’s not just Americans who are weighing in on Barack Obama’s candidacy: The New Republic’s Antonio Vargas Llosa reads the tea leaves in overseas attitudes towards the potential first black president:

  • The European left is relatively mum, showing “a quiet shame” that mainstream America—often mocked for its racial discrimination—has a more open-minded attitude than the often-socialist Continent.

  • European conservatives are pleased, not believing that Obama will jerk policy too far left—and excited about a likely soft power transformation.
  • The Latin American right is jubilant, citing Obama's candidacy as a “reasonable way to bring about social change” within established government. As opposed, that is, to overhauling discriminatory systems with populist revolution.
  • Latin American lefties have been careful with their plaudits, not wanting Obama to provide too much good publicity for the US.
(More Barack Obama stories.)

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