Small World After All: Obama-Clinton Battle Stirs Global Debate

March 25, 2008 — -- The 2008 presidential election is eight months away and yet in corners of the world near and far, people are extraordinarily attuned to the political battle for the world's most powerful office.

In Europe, television and radio stations, blogs, newspapers and magazines provide daily coverage of the primaries and debates, even delving into the arcane power held by the Democratic superdelegates.

Attracting the most interest is the historic nature of the Democratic candidates -- a tall, young, charismatic, Harvard-educated black senator and a high-powered female senator and former first lady vying for the White House.

Less is known about the presumptive Republican nomination, Arizona Sen. John McCain, though that is changing given his recent overseas tour.

While the personalities of the candidates are attracting the most attention, the issues at stake -- the economy, the war in Iraq and the environment -- are of global interest.

Perhaps more profoundly, the 2008 election is viewed as a chance for a new, fresh American image, in a world where nearly every poll sees America's image dragging.

"Since 2002, the image of the United States has declined in most parts of the world," said Richard Wike of the Pew Global Attitudes Project.

"The decision to go into Iraq unilaterally, the ongoing war, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and the opposition to the Kyoto Protocol has deepened anti-American sentiment in much of Europe and the Middle East," Wike said.

Credible public opinion data on views from abroad about the U.S. election is hard to come by. But newspapers and anecdotes suggest the U.S. election is being discussed just as hotly in cafes, pubs, taxicabs and tea rooms around the world as it is in the United States.

From France to India, Britain to Indonesia, and Canada to Africa, people around the world are expressing an extraordinary level of excitement and interest in the U.S. election.

Across the pond in London, the U.S. election is "the No. 1 topic of conversation at dinner parties, at think tank meetings and in taxicabs," writes British columnist Irwin Stelzer this month in The Weekly Standard.

Clinton has many European admirers dating back to her first lady years and former President Clinton remains a very popular figure.

But the European media are gripped by "Obamamania."