Hillary Who?

Despite the fact that there remain three candidates for the presidential race of 2008, foreign news organizations seem to have made a decision about which one those three will make it to November. Recent news has shown a distinct focus on Senator Obama and his campaign for the Democratic nomination. In particular, the French news source Le Monde, the BBC online news and Asia Times all have their own spin on this high-profile campaigner. Hillary who?

BBC blogger Justin Webb wonders if Obama’s charisma and apparent success will be enough to flip world opinion on its head and change the negative feelings that many foreigners have been harboring toward the United States once he wins the election. The blogger sites Asia Times, in which a rather “weird and incomprehensible” opinion surfaces. The article Webb refers to criticizes Obama’s career for being devoid of any kind of character revealers—not his “empty rhetoric,” an article for the Harvard Law Review or a piece of legislation is indicative of who he is at the core. Instead, the article decides, Obama can be hashed out according to the women in his life, in particular his mother, Ann Dunham, and his wife, Michelle Obama. Apparently, America is the “abandonment of one kind of hope in return for another”; it is the creative destroyer of the cultures which seek a new life within its borders. Anthropologists are those people who look to stop this cultural destruction by trying to preserve what many do not care about losing. Well, Obama’s mother was an anthropologist and according to Asia Times, “The probable next president of the United States is a mother’s revenge against the America she despised.” A harsh judgment, to say the least. Webb was indeed correct when he wondered whether the negative outlook on America could be changed with this election. Obama’s wife, Michelle, has also made her presence known and Asia Times recognizes her spirit and ideology as more potent than that of her husband.

In contrast, Le Monde finds him and his campaign to be the embodiment of the Democratic party. He represents the people, they claim, and understands that Americans find appeal in a candidate which will reflect the policies they want, and in this case, those that will benefit the common people.

John McCain, meanwhile, doesn’t yet have the clout to shove the democratic race off front pages just yet. The BBC gives him a small spotlight in video coverage posted on their page, but the general tone of the voiceover seems to undermine the idea of a victory which the Republican party hope for this fall. Again, world opinion of the U.S. and of Bush has not been favorable, and the BBC suggests that McCain’s ties to Bush are not helping him as he approaches the 2008 presidential election.