Friday,
March 07, 2008
Italy
and the World Glued to US
Primary Like at No Other Time
Around
the entire World there has never been this level
of interest in the Democratic Primaries as this year. They have little
hope if Mc Cain follows Bush, because they are afraid of a continuation of the
Bush debacle. The anti-Bushism turned into a broader
anti-Americanism. So for many non-Americans this year's elections are the
last-chance do-over.
"This
is a vital election, more than normal, "It's vital for all of us,
and for the Muslim world even more so. The new Administration will have to set
a new world agenda because the Bush agenda is totally bankrupt. It's a landmark
point for America
and for people everywhere."
Hillary
Clinton appeals to many who have fond memories of her
husband's presidency, and those who would like to see a woman in the White
House.
An
Obama victory would fulfill everything the rest of
the world has been told America
could be, but hasn't quite been." In Italy, Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni, a candidate for the position of Prime Minister,
has taken to lifting lines from Obama, including repeated
usage of "Yes we can" in three languages: English, Italian ("Sl, possiamo") and
the Italian capital's local dialect ("Se po' ffa'"). In Hong Kong, prodemocracy parties are studying U.S. campaign
techniques, in particular Obama's grass-roots youth
organizing. "Everyone wants to study how he delivers his message,"
says Tanya Chan, a District Council representative from the Civic Party.
There was a
moment in Barack Obama's
speech in San Antonio on Tuesday night that
encapsulated something important about this year's U.S. presidential primary season.
On the night of the Iowa
caucuses in January, Obama said, the grandfather of
one of his young staffers had stayed up until 5 a.m., watching the returns. The
man was 81 years old and he was in Uganda.
He was not alone.
In many U.S.
election seasons, the rest of the world doesn't pay much attention to the
strange hoopla until the two main candidates have emerged. Costly
state-by-state elections to determine presidential nominees can appear like
charming overkill, as if the U.S. is trying too hard to show the
world what democracy should really look like. But this time is different.
From Paris to Karachi,
Canada to Turkey, interest in this U.S. election
season began months ago. Libraries of new books on American politics and
political figures have been flying off the shelves in Japan and Italy. Friends of mine (not all of
them political junkies) from Australia,
India, Ireland, Kenya,
South Africa and Britain have
all sent me e-mails in recent weeks about the primaries and how exciting they
are. My father has been interested in American politics since 1960 and says he
has never seen this level of interest so early in the race. "There tr uly
has been nothing like the Democratic battle we are now experiencing,"
he e-mailed me recently. "Here [in Australia] wherever we go,
people want to talk about the two candidates and are
taking sides."
Naturally, if sadly,
one of the reasons for the enormous attention this time around is George W.
Bush. Since Bush's election just over seven years ago, and especially
since the 2003 invasion of Iraq,
global attitudes to the U.S.
have worsened, in some places considerably. Before the 2004 presidential
election, the accepted wisdom goes, the rest of the world focused most of its
ire on Bush himself, figuring that he had somehow
lucked into the presidency after a dodgy Supreme Court decision. But after
2004, that excuse no longer worked and there is some evidence to suggest
that anti-Bushism turned into a broader
anti-Americanism. So for many non-Americans this year's elections are
the last-chance do-over. "This is a vital election, more than
normal," says Pakistani journalist and author Ahmed Rashid. "It's
vital for all of us, and for the Muslim world even more so. [The new
Administration] will have to set a new world agenda becau
se the Bush agenda is totally bankrupt. It's a landmark point for America and for
people everywhere."
It helps that the
election season has been anything but dull. The sight of a woman, a black man,
a Mormon, a Christian preacher and a former POW slugging it out has been as
fascinating to many of us out here as it is to American voters. Hillary
Clinton appeals to many who have fond memories of her
husband's presidency and those who would like to see a woman in the
White House; McCain comes off as brave and decent; and in Barack Obama, a biracial son of
an immigrant, millions see themselves. "Educated, international-minded
Indians get a huge thrill out of Obama," says Shashi Tharoor, a former
high-ranking U.N. diplomat and an author and columnist. "He is much more
'one of us' than any previous presidential contender ... An Obama victory would fulfill everything the rest of the
world has been told America
could be, but hasn't quite been."
But it's not just
about personalities. The spectacle of the primary season itself may be
helping to heal the rift between the U.S. and the rest of the world.
The political process, with all its wonderful arcane subplots and cul-de-sacs,
is a powerful reminder to people of how America, how its system, can be
great. The incredible growth in television coverage abroad, especially in
places with fast-growing middle classes such as China
and India,
is fuelling that interest. Even in developed countries like France this
election season has been unusually compelling. "In 2000, there was very
deep confusion in France
about just how the American election system works," says Catherine Croisier, a professor and researcher at the Center for
Trans-Atlantic Studies in Dijon, a unit within France's ilite Sciences Po graduate school. "This time, people
are getting interested in the race, and with far greater passion thanks to the
tight battles and strong personalities involved."
In the continent
where President Bush is more popular than anywhere else, Africans have
another, more rueful reason to take note of electoral contests 10,000 miles
away: the transparent and hotly contested race bears such stark contrast to
recent elections in their own countries, which have been marred by opacity,
vote-rigging and tribal politics. There has been widespread violence in the
aftermath of Kenya's
Dec. 27 poll, with the country split along tribal lines. Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times
recently reported that members of Obama's Luo ethnic group are supporting him, while rival Kikuyus are vociferously backing Clinton. "People do stand back and
are a bit agog about the competitiveness and openness of American
politics," says Ross Herbert, a research fellow at the South African
Institute for International Affairs. "In most of Africa
people are chosen for party leadership behind closed doors."
Across the world,
the techniques of the candidates are being copied. In Italy, Rome Mayor
Walter Veltroni, a candidate for the position of
Prime Minister, has taken to lifting lines from Obama,
including repeated usage of "Yes we can" in three languages: English,
Italian ("Sl, possiamo")
and the Italian capital's local dialect ("Se po'
ffa'"). In Hong Kong, prodemocracy parties are studying U.S. campaign
techniques, in particular Obama's grass-roots youth organizing.
"Everyone wants to study how he delivers his message," says Tanya
Chan, a District Council representative from the Civic Party.
While
non-Americans have railed against U.S.
policies over the past few years, much of the world has continued to love America, or at least the idea of America. A
good part of the anger over the treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay is
explained not just by the fact that torture may have been used, but by the
sense that the U.S. has failed to live up to its own ideals. For many
non-Americans, the U.S.
elections hold out the promise of change, of renewed leadership. "A
lot of what French people identify as negative influences and trends do
emanate from American society, but much of what French society strives for
and aspires to often first takes root in the U.S. as well," says an
adviser to the French government. "So, no, [French Socialist leader] Sigolhne Royal didn't win the election. And, no, we don't
elect enough minorities to office. But that's changing and in part because we've seen that
change elsewhere already, primarily in the U.S."
Big expectations
can result in disappointment of course, and there's sure to be some of that
next year no matter who wins the White House. In the euphoria of fresh
elections it's easy to forget that U.S. Presidents pursue their own
agenda first. Depending on who wins, the next Administration could press on
with globally unpopular policies such as staying in Iraq, or throw up
new trade barriers that would hurt the rest of the world. But for the millions
who look to the U.S. as a
model, a place of hope and transformation, the world seems a better place
when liking America
isn't something to hide.
With reporting by
Bruce Crumley/Paris, Jeff Israely/Rome,
Megan Lindow/Cape Town, Catherine Mayer/London and
Andrew Monahan/Hong Kong
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