In a wonderful new article (in English) Spiegel talks about how there is a concensus for Obama among the left and right in Germany and how Germany's influential conservative foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has become has become a huge Obama promoter after a 15-minute telephone conversation with Barack which impressed Steinmeier that Obama is extremely concerned and educated about foreign affairs.
But the foreign minister hasn't been alone in his admiration for the candidate -- Berlin has been teeming with Obamamania for weeks now. Even conservatives are taken by the Democrat. After the Bush era, Chancellor Angela Merkel of the conservative Christian Democrats can easily imagine working together with a liberal Democrat in the White House. And Norbert Röttgen, chief whip for the Christian Democrats in parliament, sees Obama as the messenger of a new wave of politics that could also provide a model for Germany.
Neither are Germans unfamiliar with McSame:
Obama's Republican contender John McCain (more...) is viewed with greater skepticism in Berlin, where the 71-year-old Vietnam veteran is considered by many to be a Cold War relic. McCain, for example, announced that he wanted to kick Russia out of the G-8 and instead found a "League of Democracies" that, in emergencies, could also circumvent the United Nations around the world. Those aren't the kind of words that get a warm welcome in Germany.
McCain is not an unknown quantity in Germany, either. As a dyed in the wool trans-Atlanticist, he regularly participates in the annual Munich Security Conference. The senator has a reputation there for his sharp attacks against German politicians -- his fits of rage are feared and his political positions are known because of the numerous debates he has taken part in.
Full article:
http://www.spiegel.de/...