Is Barack Obama’s honeymoon with Europe over already?
After months of the most effusive and unrestrained praise for America’s first serious Black presidential candidate, some of Obama’s most energetic European backers – the Germans – are growing skeptical.
Malte Lehming writes for Germany’s Der Tagesspiegel:
“In the end, a disappointment is a deceit. So it’s for the best that we cast a serous German glance in the direction of the American Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama. He has called for the death penalty for child rapists, defends the right to possess firearms and is the first candidate since the Watergate scandal to reject public financing of his election campaign in favor of private, unlimited contributions. ‘Hey,’ some on this side of the Atlantic now ask, ‘we thought he was one of us?’ Far from it.”
And the result of all this? Lehming goes on:
“The facade of the wise, eloquent and charming golden boy has begun to crumble. There is a second – other Obama. And he’s about to be discovered: unscrupulous, selfish, and overambitious.’
Lehming concludes with a little advice for Barack Obama:
“Who is the real Obama? Nobody knows for sure. For now because of his vagueness, it’s still possible to project various expectations onto him, in USA as well as in Europe. But here and there the impatience is growing: Obama, perhaps the first Black President, must not only be flexible, he has to take a stand.”
By Malte Lehming
Translated By Ulf Behncke
June 28, 2008
Germany – Der Tagesspiegel – Original Article (German)
In the end, a disappointment is a deceit. So it’s for the best that we cast a serous German glance in the direction of the American Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama. He has called for the death penalty for child rapists, defends the right to possess firearms and is the first candidate since the Watergate scandal to reject public financing of his election campaign in favor of private, unlimited contributions. “Hey,” some on this side of the Atlantic now ask, “we thought he was one of us?” Far from it. Obama isn’t running to be president in Europe, but in the United States.
Since it’s clear that he – and not Hillary Clinton – is the one in the running, a new phase in the U.S. election campaign has begun. Obama is the candidate of the left, but the people are in the center. So he must move as swiftly and as unnoticeably as possible, to avoid being stung by the accusation of being short on principles. This is a process that began long ago. Where once he said that he would completely renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, he now calls his toughest remarks on the subject “overheated.” Where he once said that he would meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without preconditions, his team now stresses that arranging such a meeting would of course require some preparation. Where once he said that he would debate his Republican opponent McCain “anytime and anywhere,” his spokesperson has now strictly limited the number meetings to two. The facade of the wise, eloquent and charming golden boy has begun to crumble. There is a second – other Obama. And he’s about to be discovered: unscrupulous, selfish, and overambitious.
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