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As he prepared to meet US presidential candidate Barack Obama later Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a French newspaper that the Illinois senator was his "buddy." "Obama? That's my buddy," Sarkozy was quoted as saying in Friday's edition of Le Figaro. "Contrary to my diplomatic advisors, I never thought Hillary Clinton had a chance. I always said Obama would be chosen" as the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party. "I am the only French person who knows him," Sarkozy said, recounting that he had met Obama during a visit to the United States in 2006, when he was Interior...

So far for Mr. Obama, who came to Europe once in the last four years, making a stop in London on his way to Russia, the response of many Europeans to his potential presidency has been gratifying — emotional, responsive, replete with the sense of hope he seeks to engender about a more flexible, less ideological America. On Thursday evening in a glittering Berlin, cheered by as many as 200,000 people, Mr. Obama delivered a tone poem to American and European ideals and shared history. In contrast, just before he spoke, Mr. McCain, was sitting in Schmidt’s Sausage Haus und...

  July 25, 2008               "Barack Obama has found his people. But, unfortunately for his election prospects, they're German, not American."-The Guardian, UK    This cartoon/graphic is free for noncommercial use in emails, blogs, and forums.  iowapresidentialwatch.com

Election 2008: Barack Obama's big Berlin rally is being sold to U.S. voters as reason to vote for him. Yes, Germans do love Obama, but a look at what they think of the rest of us raises questions about the cheering.A May-June Gallup poll released July 23 shows that 62% of Germans want Obama elected president over just 27% who would prefer John McCain. It's a German landslide. No surprise. Citizens of the country Obama chose for a big showy overseas campaign rally hold some of the most virulent sentiment against President Bush ever recorded. Five years after the Iraq...

Most say it matters to their country who is elected U.S. president

Berlin - Obamania is all the rage ahead of next week's visit to Berlin, Paris and London by a man described in newspapers as a "John Kennedy of our time" and Europe's champion in the race for the White House.

Obamania grips Europe ahead of visit by "John Kennedy of our time" Jul 18 10:07 PM US/Eastern Obamania is all the rage ahead of next week's visit to Berlin, Paris and London by a man described in newspapers as a "John Kennedy of our time" and Europe's champion in the race for the White House. If western Europeans could vote in November's presidential election, Barack Obama, the 46-year-old Democratic senator, would be a shoo-in, according to a recent opinion poll conducted on behalf of Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper. Seventy percent of Italians, 67 percent of Germans, 65 percent of the...

Signaling how they intend to frame their attacks next week against a globe-trotting Barack Obama, John McCain's campaign is suggesting that the Democratic nominee's popularity abroad may not translate well in middle America and that his trip amounts to a foreign photo-opportunity. "I don't know that people in Missouri are going to like seeing tens of thousands of Europeans screaming for The One," quipped a McCain aide, deploying a moniker some in the campaign use to poke fun at Obama's exalted status in certain quarters. McCain is stumping today in Kansas City, Mo. "This isn't about reaching out to allies...

Good Saturday morning. Senator Obama will call on British Prime Minister Gordon Brown next month during a European swing that includes stops in London, France and Germany, reports Toby Harnden of The (London) Daily Telegraph. Harnden forecasts “Obamamania”: “A recent Telegraph poll showed that Mr Obama is overwhelmingly preferred to Mr McCain in Britain and Europe. … But Democratic strategists are concerned that scenes of ‘Obamamania’ in Europe could damage the candidate back home.”

If the world could vote? What would happen if the world could vote in the US presidential elections? Your vote has been cast. Thank you. Barack Obama 86.7% (3393 votes) John McCain 13.3% (521 votes) Total number of votes: 3914 Countries voted from: 56   Country BarackObama   JohnMcCain Antigua and Barbuda 100%     0% Argentina 100%     0% Austria 50%     50% Australia 94.3%     5.7% Bosnia and Herzegovina 100%     0% Belgium 92.5%     7.5% Brazil 50%     50% Canada 91.7%     8.3% Switzerland 95.7%     4.3% China...

When Youssoupha, a black rapper here, was asked the other day what was on his mind, a grin spread across his face. “Barack Obama,” he said. “Obama tells us everything is possible.” A new black consciousness is emerging in France, lately hastened by, of all things, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president of the United States. An article in Le Monde a few days ago described how Mr. Obama is “stirring up high hopes” among blacks here. Even seeing the word “noir” (“black”) in a French newspaper was an occasion for surprise until recently. Meanwhile, this past weekend, 60 cars...

Well, the PEW Research Center just completed its latest "Who Hates America Most" survey, and the results are predictable, according to the International Herald Tribune.

WASHINGTON — Public opinion in Mexico has turned sharply against the United States over the past decade, and many in America's southern neighbor now hold strongly negative views of President Bush and the candidates vying to replace him, a public opinion survey released Thursday revealed. A Pew Global Attitudes Survey of citizens in Mexico and 23 other countries found that 47 percent of Mexicans have a positive view of the United States, down from 68 percent a decade ago. Nearly half of that decline — 9 percentage points — came since last year, when an anti-immigrant backlash in America inflamed...

PARIS: There is good news and bad news for President George W. Bush as he pursues his valedictory tour of Europe this week, according to a new worldwide study by the Pew Global Attitudes Project. On the one hand, the image of the United States has improved slightly in many countries over the past year. On the other, the new optimism appears to be driven largely by the fact that Bush will soon be leaving office. In addition, while the prospect of Bush's departure and the excitement of the U.S. primary contest have helped the image of the United States,...

WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama is far more popular around the world than Republican presidential candidate John McCain, according to a 24-nation poll released Thursday by the Pew Global Attitudes Survey. The Pew study finds that Obama is wildly popular among traditional U.S. allies in Western Europe and Australia, where people have become alienated by American foreign policy during the Bush years. Among the nations polled, Obama was most popular in France and Tanzania, where 84 percent of citizens said they had confidence in his leadership. Other hotbeds of Obama enthusiasm are Germany (82 percent), Australia (80 percent),...

If Barack Obama was taking on John McCain in a global election he would already be on his way to the White House. A recent worldwide poll showed him beating the Republican by more than three to one. In Europe, his margin of victory would be even greater: Mr McCain would get only 6 per cent of the vote in Germany, where a government spokesman has waxed publicly about the attraction of Mr Obama's “mixture of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy”. Just about the whole of France is backing Mr Obama. He is, in the words of Jack...

LONDON (AP) - Excitement about Barack Obama emerged as a global phenomenon Wednesday as commentators and citizens around the world welcomed the news that he had sealed the Democratic presidential nomination. The excitement was less about Obama's foreign policies—which remain vague on many fronts—than a sense that the candidacy of a black American with relatives in Africa and childhood friends in Asia marks a historic moment. Michael Cox, a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics, said Obama's win "has sent out a lot of positive signals around the world." "He has a very appealing persona—elegant, fluent,...

LONDON, June 4 -- For much of the world, Sen. Barack Obama's victory in the Democratic primaries was a moment to admire the United States, at a time when the nation's image abroad has been seriously damaged. From hundreds of supporters crowded around televisions in rural Kenya, Obama's ancestral homeland, to jubilant Britons writing "WE DID IT!" on the "Brits for Barack" site on Facebook, people celebrated what they called an important racial and generational milestone for the United States. "This is close to a miracle. I was certain that some things will not happen in my lifetime," said Sunila...

To say that Europeans will welcome President George Bush on his farewell visit to Europe next week would invite a charge of verb-abuse. Welcome is hardly the word. But they will be glad to see the back of him. His two terms have been a bad time for relations between Europe and the United States. The question now is how much better those relations will get under a President Barack Obama or John McCain. My guess is: with Obama, it will be very different and an exciting ride, but still not easy; with McCain, a little better than with Bush...

(CNSNews.com) - If citizens of five leading European countries were electing the next U.S. president, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama would be a shoo-in, according to a new poll that also reveals strong views on America's global role. In a survey of some 6,200 people in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia, the senator from Illinois received 52 percent of the vote to just 15 percent for Republican Sen. John McCain. Sen. Hillary Clinton was not listed as an option in the YouGov poll, conducted for the London Daily Telegraph 's Internet site. The biggest gap between the two presumptive candidates...

At the tail end of George W Bush’s presidency, many Germans' attitudes to America are still shaped by the Iraq war. So it is no surprise to see just 25 per cent of respondents here viewing the US as “a force for good”. But in a country where gratitude endures for America's part in the airlift, the Marshall Plan, and protecting at least the West from the Soviet Union, excitement is palpable about the prospect of a new, more harmonious, trans-Atlantic relationship. The survey shows that those hopes are pinned squarely on one man: Barack Obama. “Germans are very much...

If citizens of five leading European countries were electing the next U.S. president, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama would be a shoo-in, according to a new poll that also reveals strong views on America's global role. In a survey of some 6,200 people in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia, the senator from Illinois received 52 percent of the vote to just 15 percent for Republican Sen. John McCain. Sen. Hillary Clinton was not listed as an option in the YouGov poll, conducted for the London Daily Telegraph 's Internet site. The biggest gap between the two presumptive candidates was in...

Senator Barack Obama emerged as Europe's favourite candidate for America’s presidency today when a poll conducted for Telegraph.co.uk gave him 52 per cent support across five of the world’s richest nations, including Britain. John McCain, the presumed Republican nominee, received only 15 per cent of the vote in unprecedented survey covering Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia. Poll analysis: Barack Obama wins over anti-Bush Britain Poll analysis: Russians consider the US a force for evil Country-by-country poll results (Excel file) The poll also found a striking level of anti-American feeling in every country. A clear majority of Russians - 56...

Berlin political circles -- both liberal and conservative -- are fawning over US presidential candidate Barack Obama. Many in Germany see him as a cross between John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., but expectations may be exaggerated. Prost, Barack! Germans are intoxicated by Barack Obama's political message. Frank-Walter Steinmeier had hoped to meet personally, but Barack Obama has a lot on his plate at the moment and Germany's foreign minister had to make do with a telephone conversation with the presidential candidate during his recent visit to Washington. Still, that's all it took to stir Steinmeier's enthusiasm for...

Not only is Obama's middle name Hussein that of the prophet Mohammad's grandson (revered as the saint of all saints by Iran's majority Shiites) but the candidate's foreign policy seems light years away from the saber-rattling of President Bush and Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee. ...what Iranian elites say about Obama. I should say, he is a phenomenon, based on what he has said so far, Sadegh Kharazzi, a former Iranian diplomat squarely in the reformist camp now out of power, said. Unless he is drawn into traditional Democratic Party ways, his election as a president will be...

Cuban leader Fidel Castro blasted Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Friday for his criticism of the Cuban government this week, saying McCain had shown why he finished near the bottom of his class at West Point. In his latest newspaper column, Castro also attacked President George W. Bush for his speech on Wednesday announcing that U.S. citizens would be allowed to send cell phones to Cuba. "A deluge of speeches and lies they directed at Cuba," Castro said in a column published in Communist Party newspaper Granma. "How far they are from knowing Cuba and its people." McCain, speaking...

The Blairs’ hearts sank when they learnt that George Bush’s victory over Al Gore in 2000 had been ratified and that he was to become President of the United States, Cherie Blair reveals in The Times today. She tells how she and her husband watched Mr Bush on television and were concerned at his poor grasp of foreign affairs, but Mr Blair was determined to have a strong relationship with the Republican President. Although they had initial reservations about his political leanings she and her husband learnt to appreciate “a very funny, charming man with a quirky sense of humour”....

The Blairs’ hearts sank when they learnt that George Bush’s victory over Al Gore in 2000 had been ratified and that he was to become President of the United States, Cherie Blair reveals in The Times today. She tells how she and her husband watched Mr Bush on television and were concerned at his poor grasp of foreign affairs, but Mr Blair was determined to have a strong relationship with the Republican President. Although they had initial reservations about his political leanings she and her husband learnt to appreciate “a very funny, charming man with a quirky sense of humour”....

Former President Jimmy Carter has given Barack Obama a major boost by calling for the bitter Democratic nomination battle to end on June 3rd and speaking glowingly of his ability to “transform the image” of America. Mr Carter did not formally endorse Mr Obama but in an interview with The Daily Telegraph made crystal clear where his sympathies lie. He even sketched out the kind of inaugural address the first black United States president could deliver. Coming from the most distinguished of some 300 uncommitted "super-delegates” - the Democratic party leaders who will crown their party’s nominee - Mr Carter’s...

30pc favour Hillary in Pakistan survey Wednesday, April 16, 2008 News Desk ISLAMABAD: According to a survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan, every second Pakistani has a view on American presidential hopefuls with Hillary Clinton on top scoring 30 per cent followed by Barack Obama at 14 per cent and John McCain at 8 per cent. The remaining 48 per cent were unable to give a view, which is quite understandable given the complexities of the American primaries. When asked who would you like to win in the next American elections, only 13 per cent supported the party of President...

The Murdoch clan is used to the rest of the media, politicians and the chattering classes trying to decode their political stance and its implications from their public actions. The early signals were that Rupert Murdoch favoured Hillary Clinton in the US presidential election. But yesterday Murdoch-watchers were digesting the news that Elisabeth Murdoch, Rupert's 39-year-old daughter, who runs a large TV production company, will host a London fundraiser for Clinton's rival, Barack Obama, this month. Despite the extensive coverage in the UK media, for high-rolling US expats election fever must seem a long way away. But in the most...

For America's presidential candidates, the global electoral map is looking as divided as the domestic one. When foreigners look at the three contenders, Sen. Barack Obama seems to have the lead among Europeans and Africans. Sen. Hillary Clinton is popular among Mexicans and Chinese. Sen. John McCain just returned from a campaign swing through the Middle East and Europe. U.S. presidential contests often attract interest from foreign countries. The world's sole superpower has such an impact on the globe that, as a Belgian newspaper recently suggested, the rest of the world may feel it should be allowed to vote, too....

WHEN Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, arrives in Britain this week, he will start the job of presenting a new face of America to Europe. “We need to do a better job on America’s image,” he said, citing the many differences he has had over the years with President George W Bush, from the conduct of the war in Iraq to the importance of climate change. Once he reaches British soil, he intends to adopt a more neutral tone. It is against diplomatic protocol to criticise your country abroad. In any case, McCain is grateful to Bush for...

Europe’s media and left-wing intelligentsia see Barack Obama as the most appealing candidate for the U.S. presidency. He exemplifies what the French leftist magazine Le Nouvel Observateur calls “the America we like.” Most Europeans deny that they’re anti-American; they argue instead that there are two Americas—the good and the bad. Michael Moore is a good American, honored with the Cannes film festival’s highest prize in 2006 for his anti-Bush fantasy documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. Other good Americans include Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Noam Chomsky, Barbra Streisand, and Philip Roth. Charlton Heston and Billy Graham are bad—as bad as McDonald’s—and so, of...

REYNOSA — Carlos Lopez made his choice in the U.S. Democratic presidential primary months ago, but he’ll never have a chance to cast a vote. The 65-year-old optometrist from Monterrey has followed the race avidly from Mexico and thinks a Barack Obama presidency will do the most to improve relations between his country and its northern neighbor. “Hillary’s the old system,” he said while enjoying a recent afternoon lunch in Reynosa’s downtown plaza. “Obama represents a change for Mexico, as much as America.” Lopez is not alone in his ability to recall the names, personalities and platforms of the major...

SPIEGEL: That is not how many Europeans see it. Kissinger: Some Europeans do not want to understand that this is not an American problem alone. The consequences of such an outcome would be at least as serious for Europe as for the Americans. SPIEGEL: What does Europe not understand? Paris, London and Berlin do not see the "war on terror" as a common challenge for the West? Kissinger: I don't like the term "war on terror" because terror is a method, not a political movement. We are in a war against radical Islam that is trying to overthrow the moderate...

Prince Andrew angers Palace with US attack By Andrew Pierce Last Updated: 2:44am GMT 06/02/2008 The Duke of York has angered the Queen and senior politicians with his extraordinary attack on the White House on the eve of his trade mission to the United States. Downing Street and the Foreign Office were also dismayed by the timing of his comments so close to the Super Tuesday primaries. The Duke of York is about to embark on a 10-day mission to the US as British trade envoy The duke's criticism, in a newspaper interview, of President Bush's post-war strategy for Iraq...

A survey of European media -- Deutsche Welle, for example, implies that if Germans cannot help Americans vote Obama into office, then the US political system itself must be flawed.

LONDON — Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, criticized the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in an interview published Sunday, saying it was worse than the British land grabs of the colonial era. The spiritual leader of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion described the situation in Iraq as the "the worst of all worlds," and compared it to the time when Britain was at the height of its imperial power. "It is one thing to take over a territory and even pour energy and resources into administrating it and normalizing it," said Williams. "Rightly or wrongly, that's what...

Fewer Britons are visiting the United States than in the year 2000, despite an exchange rate that makes holidays much better value than they were then. New York is one of the only cities not to suffer a fall in visitors This week, when the pound rose to $2.07, its highest level against the dollar for 26 years, the US Office of Travel and Tourism Industries released figures that confirm how badly tourism from Britain has been suffering since the terrorist attacks of 2001 and the measures enacted in response to them.

PARIS (Reuters) - U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won surprise backing from the wife of former French President Jacques Chirac on Thursday, together with a pledge to join her on the campaign trail. The Chiracs' political affiliations are at the opposite end of the spectrum from the Clintons', but the former French first lady said she had always thought Democratic candidate Clinton had the makings of a U.S. president. "She's a woman who is not liked by everybody. But she's strong and she has convictions," Bernadette Chirac, well-known for a forceful character of her own, told the weekly Le Figaro...

George Bush was castigated by European diplomats and found himself isolated yesterday after a special conference on climate change ended without any progress. European ministers, diplomats and officials attending the Washington conference were scathing, particularly in private, over Mr Bush's failure once again to commit to binding action on climate change. Although the US and Britain have been at odds over the environment since the early days of the Bush administration, the gap has never been as wide as yesterday. Britain and almost all other European countries, including Germany and France, want mandatory targets for reducing greenhouse emissions. Mr Bush,...

Bill Clinton regularly touts his wife's bid for the White House by telling crowds that leaders around the globe are pulling for Hillary Clinton's election in 2008. Yet none of the leaders the former President cited will back him up, the Daily News has found. "Every African leader I talked to, every single one when I was there, without any prodding from me, said, 'For God sakes, I hope Hillary wins. We don't like disliking America here,'" Bill Clinton said at a fund-raiser for her last month. "I called the outgoing French president, and he said, 'Oh, tell me Hillary's...

Love Us or Hate Us, Ya Can’t Ignore Us By JOHN STRAUSBAUGH Published: August 26, 2007 DO Europeans hate America or love it? Lately the answer might seem a no-brainer. But “The Anti-Americans,” a one-hour documentary that has its premiere on PBS on Monday night, suggests that the correct response is: “Both.” We have, the show declares, “a hate-love relationship.” We see both sides in the program. First the hate: At a fashionable dinner party in London a proper Englishwoman sniffs with supreme condescension, “Americans are the first nation to come from barbarians, skip the civilized bit and go into...

WASHINGTON – Twenty retired federal judges, two rear admirals and a Marine general joined 383 current or former members of the European and British parliaments on Friday in urging the Supreme Court to grant detainees at Guantanamo Bay full access to the U.S. court system. Lower court rulings supporting the Bush administration's opposition to full court access “were seized upon by repressive governments as a license to incarcerate their own citizens and others with impunity,” 25 retired American diplomats wrote in one court filing. In June, the Supreme Court agreed to take the detainees' case, reversing a decision in April...

While out for a round of golf on Monday a middle-aged couple had their game disrupted by a teenage boy bearing a grudge and a gun. The strange encounter took place at Ringenäs golf course near Halmstad in western Sweden, Aftonbladet reports. At around 5.30pm the golfers came upon a boy dressed in camouflage combat fatigues and a helmet. Before they had time to react, the boy took aim at the pair and screamed "bloody capitalists" before firing a shot into the air above their heads. "My wife ducked behind her bag. It was very unpleasant. We were scared," the...

A SENIOR Downing Street aide has sounded out Washington on the possibility of an early British military withdrawal from Iraq. Simon McDonald, the prime minister’s chief foreign policy adviser, left the impression that he was “doing the groundwork” for Gordon Brown, according to one of those he consulted. Brown, who arrives at Camp David in Maryland today to meet President George W Bush, said yesterday that “the relationship with the United States is our single most important bilateral relationship”. Downing Street remains emphatic that he will not unveil a plan to withdraw British troops, who are due to remain in...

Britain's "special relationship" with the United States is under fresh strain today after Lord Malloch Brown, the Foreign Office minister, said that Gordon Brown and President George W Bush would no longer "be joined at the hip". Lord Malloch Brown: it's time for a more 'impartial' foreign policy Interviewed in The Daily Telegraph, Lord Malloch Brown said that it was time for a more "impartial" foreign policy, building new relationships with the French president Nicolas Sarkozy and the German chancellor Angela Merkel as well as the growing economic powerhouses of India and China.

PARIS (Reuters) - A senior French politician, now a minister in President Nicolas Sarkozy's government, suggested last year that U.S. President George W. Bush might have been behind the September 11, 2001 attacks, according to a website. The www.ReOpen911.info website, which promotes September 11 conspiracy theories, has posted a video clip of French Housing Minister Christine Boutin appearing to question that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda group orchestrated the attacks. Boutin's office sought to play down the remarks. Asked in an interview last November, before she became minister, whether she thought Bush might be behind the attacks, Boutin says: "I...