International Love For Senator Obama, Pt. 2

I posted that stuff in the last post, not to just rehash old analysis, but to lay the groundwork for this.

-Why all the press effort to show Obama enjoys global support? Couple reasons, in my opinion.

1.) The press are panicked. Over the past week Obama has seen himself fall to second place, seen the adulation he usually receives move over to Gov. Palin, and seen a problem with his finances arise. Regardless of past performance, things aren't looking good for the junior senator from Illinois. The journalists and people of Europe, who had previously assumed the presidency was "in the bag" for Senator Obama, are worried. They think that if they show that Obama has international support, it will help him in the election. I can see why they might think this would work, but it is slobber-knockingly ignorant of the American electorate. A majority of Americans think the US is a pretty damn neat place, exceptionally so. To put it succinctly, plenty of us think "there's a reason why our ancestors left you."

2.) Europe is just angry at the US. I wouldn't even say that I blame them. We are a gigantic reminder that there is a successful Western nation that disagrees on so many modern issues with most of western Europe: death penalty, healthcare, climate, &c. I'd be upset, too. When you add this to the pain they've just felt at the change in polls, and the natural reaction is to lash out. Again, understandable but dumb.

3.) (added after posting) Europe is starting to lay the groundwork for their post-election whining. You can just see it underneath their stories, but many Euro-Left arguments are: "Obama is SO clearly the better candidate, it's SO blindingly obvious, that if he doesn't win, it will be because the rednecks and racists came out to crush the black man." I'm calling b.s. on that one right now, but it will still happen. Here's a fearless prediction: within one week of a hypothetical McCain victory on November 4th, there will be at least one article that has a headline with "In McCain Victory, Questions of Race and Reconciliation Remain."

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I've become more internationalist since the 2004 election, partly because I've evolved my political views, partly because I've traveled extensively. I'm much more sympathetic to many of the quibbles Europeans have with America and her citizens. When I see the rise of Sarah Palin, however, and see the stubborn resolution of Joe Six-Pack begin to rise in opposition to global opinion, I'm smitten. Who says that a suburban family has to care what some New Zealander thinks of the U.S.?

There's a charm for this American in the idea that a man from Raleigh, who enjoys Bud Light, Kid Rock, and the Tar Heel basketball team, can infuriate a European, who drinks Burgundy and has been to every Harold Pinter play, by the way he votes. Furthermore, that European will openly scorn that man's life, calling him "white trash" and unendearing to the rest of the world. That American will probably shrug his shoulders, turn the TV from CNN to ESPN, and walk out to his family on the porch with a platter of freshly grilled burgers and hot dogs.

That's America. That's my country.