Obama in Europe

When The New York Times came out in support of Obama, I wasn't surprised; was anyone? But when the Financial Times endorsed Obama, I took notice. The Financial Times reaches few American voters; why is it running the editorial?

From my vantage point in France, I'd sum up in three points European interest in the American presidential elections and their support for Obama:

1. There's genuine interest in the American elections. And the elections aren't a spectator sport; Europeans want somehow to participate. More than "Obama mania" celebrity fascination is at play. (During the primary campaign, there'd been press reports –a representative article from Le Monde has been translated into English by the worldmeets.us site– about enchantment with Obama, but this was just a fad on the cocktail party circuit. After having followed American electoral politics for months, interest is more substantive and more thought out.) I often hear French people wish that they could vote in the American elections, and a sentiment that these elections are too important to be left only to American voters.
2. Europeans voice real preferences for issues in the American presidential election. The Financial Times, for example, praised Obama's health care plan, which of course will have zero impact on the vast majority of that paper's readers. This is what fascinates me in Europeans' discussions on the American presidential contest: Europeans pay attention to the issues, but the issues they focus on differ, slightly and subtly, from those put forward by the campaigns or polling organizations in the United States. (This would make for a great political science study.) My unscientific reading is that French support for Obama is strong because he has: voiced an intent to remove US troops from Iraq; and appears better equipped to address troubles in the financial markets. And I haven't been able to persuade a single French acquaintance that McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as running mate was a wise and encouraging exercise of good judgment.
3. Support for Obama runs deep. Over the weekend, I took my children and visiting brother to visit Versailles, where I learned that museum personnel have scheduled –at least 10 days in advance of the elections– a celebration if Obama is elected. I've found that the level of enthusiasm for Obama's candidacy to be comparably high in Paris, in smaller French cities, and in rural areas. (And having noted this, I've made a point, when traveling outside Paris, to strike up conversations with people who don't themselves seek out American business lawyers.) Media coverage certainly fuels or contributes to the depth of interest. Coverage of the American elections is generous in France.