The French-language press rarely disappoints. The Swiss daily, Le Temps, translated at Watching America, describes the American Presidential elections thus:
However the chips may fall, this presidential election is a choice among exceptions: Hillary Clinton, the first woman president, Barack Obama, the first black president, and John McCain, the oldest president at the beginning of his mandate.
The USA is supremely important, all the while its currency remains the principle currency and its educational establishments are the best in the world (and they are), but beyond this, the USA at election time is its own Hollywood.
Quotes Le Temps,
The United States always excite the dream: the election is a show, a spectacle in its own right. We never scrutinize in the same way elections in China, for example
But this time, there’s even more;
“This election is particularly interesting because it does not re-enact another wrestling match between Republicans and Democrats, but rather poses the question: are the United States about to change?” – Bruno Engelric, Director of Motor-Engineering at Ferrari.
The bottom line:
If change does not happen, Uncle Sam’s country is likely to suffer the same fate as the United Kingdom, which passed from being a world power in the nineteenth century to become a country of lesser importance.
The must-read article is here at WATCHING AMERICA.com
Robin Koerner is a British-born citizen of the USA, who currently serves as Academic Dean of the John Locke Institute. He holds graduate degrees in both Physics and the Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge (U.K.). He is also the founder of WatchingAmerica.com, an organization of over 100 volunteers that translates and posts in English views about the USA from all over the world.
Robin may be best known for having coined the term “Blue Republican” to refer to liberals and independents who joined the GOP to support Ron Paul’s bid for the presidency in 2012 (and, in so doing, launching the largest coalition that existed for that candidate).
Robin’s current work as a trainer and a consultant, and his book If You Can Keep It , focus on overcoming distrust and bridging ideological division to improve politics and lives. His current project, Humilitarian, promotes humility and civility as a basis for improved political discourse and outcomes.