In my other life, I sell real estate and daily face the truth that nothing helps business like a third-party testimonial.
Watching America translates news about the U.S from all of the world’s “third-parties” – every country that has a stake in America’s choice for president in ’08. And today we see, in an article from the Hamburger Abdendblatt of Germany, Obama’s being discussed with plenty of JFK and MLK references, in a manner every bit as favorable as anything his own campaign could write.
If the “Obama Aura” is opening eyes this wide on the other side of the ocean, could we be approaching the creation of a kind of “inspirational critical mass”, rare indeed, in which the phenomenon itself, the aura, and thence the zeitgeist, becomes so strong that people will support it mostly for the psychological “feel good” of participation and not wanting to feel “left out”?
Perhaps the question is premature (and it certainly not meant cynically), but with the Germans writing third-party testimonials that recall American’s great modern political pioneers, it looks like the whole world may be gearing up to campaign for him? Now, that’s leverage.
Read the Germans on the Obama Phenomenon here at Watching America
And more where that came from on Watching America here
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.