Special Report: U.S. presidential election 2008
by Zhang Bihong
BRUSSELS, July 26 (Chinese media) -- U.S. Democratic
presidential candidate Barack Obama wrapped up his three-day European tour
Saturday after meeting leaders of major U.S. allies and harvesting enormous
popularity among the public of the three countries he has traveled to.
His high-profile visit to Germany, France and Britain was viewed by observers here as an attempt to sharpen his diplomatic edge and boost election campaign against rival Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown (L) shows US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) the terrace at 10 Downing Street in London, July 26, 2008. (Chinese media/Reuters Photo)
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It was imperative for Obama to travel abroad to
convince swing voters at home that he has the ability to lead his country and
its European allies.
As some U.S. voters have doubted the ability of
Obama, who is much younger than McCain and lacks experiences in diplomacy and
many other fields, to lead the United States if he is elected president.
Obama is only a one-term senator, while his rival
McCain, a veteran of the Vietnam war, has been a lawmaker for 26 years.
Furthermore, McCain paid a series of visits to the
Middle East, Canada, Mexico, Colombia and Europe to polish his diplomatic
credential.
It seemed that Obama got what he wanted from his
visit to Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East--"a deepening of a set of
concerns" he already had.
He said that there was nothing that "I saw that
caused me to change my basic strategic assessment" on security and foreign
policy.
Obama chose Germany, France and Britain as his
testing battlefield for diplomacy out of the consideration that the three
countries have been the most important traditional U.S. allies in Europe.
Discussing Afghanistan, Iraq, the Iranian nuclear crisis and climate change with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicholas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Obama wanted to showcase to domestic voters that he could stand gracefully side by side with such political figures if elected.
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama(L) holds a joint news conference with France's President Nicolas Sarkozy at Elysee Palace in Paris July 25, 2008. (Chinese media/Reuters Photo)
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They listened to Obama, a young black U.S.
presidential candidate, as he vowed to win the war in Afghanistan.
"We have not the right to lose," Sarkozy echoed him,
"We must not allow the Taliban to return."
Obama's visit aroused craze among the European public
and the media during his tour and his speech on enhancing transatlantic ties in
Berlin has drawn 200,000 people.
The number of audience nearly tripled the most
audience he saw at home during his campaign against party rival Hillary Clinton.
His popularity among young people in Europe, analysts say, was partly because of his personal charisma.
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama poses with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the chancellery in Berlin, in front of Reichstag building, July 24, 2008. (Chinese media/Reuters Photo)
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Contrary to unilateralism advocated by U.S. President
George W. Bush during his first term, Obama also won the hearts of the Europeans
by saying that an effective U.S. foreign policy would be based on "our ability
not only to project power but also based on the ability to listen and build
consensus" with European allies.
His pledge to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq was to
the liking of the French and Germans, who have been opposed to the U.S.-led
invasion.
Major media in the three European countries headlined
Obama's activities on front pages of newspapers and prime time on TV, creating a
sharp contrast to the "deserted" media coverage of McCain's May visit to Europe.
According to a recent Pew global poll, Obama's
support in Europe rose to 70-80 percent, similar to that of Bush's presidential
rival John Kerry four years ago.
Analysts here believe that Obama's popularity in
Europe may not help him laugh to the last in the U.S. presidential election, as
after all an American president will be elected by the Americans.
During his one-week tour, Obama's support rate fell
at home while McCain's rose.
According to the latest Gallup poll in the United
States, Obama's lead (47 percent) over McCain (41 percent) narrowed compared
with the previous week, and McCain has gained another 4 percentage points.
German media said that Obama won the hearts of the
Europeans but not the minds of Americans.
As Obama is only a Democratic presidential candidate
rather than a president, the warm receptions for him by the three European
leaders, who have forged good personal relations with Bush, were more reserved
and out of diplomatic protocol, an observer said.
Mindful that the U.S. senator came to ask the allies to share more "burden" with his country in Afghanistan, Merkel said before Obama arrived in Berlin that she would make clear to him Germany's "limitations."
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