Obama
Obama drawing worldwide attention
Foreign media expected to converge on Springfield
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
SPRINGFIELD - The world wants to know more about U.S. Sen. Barack Obama. At least, that's the word from European reporters on their way to Springfield this weekend to cover the Illinois Democrat's formal entrance into the race for president.Obama will announce his intentions Saturday at the Old State Capitol.
"We don't, by any means, cover every presidential announcement," said Tom Baldwin, Washington bureau chief for the London Times. "But Obama's candidacy is generating huge excitement, and he needs a proper introduction in the UK. I suppose that we, like everyone else, are trying to work out if he is as good - can anybody be as good - as he seems. Can he win? Will the bubble burst?"
Baldwin, who, like most of those quoted in this story, communicated via e-mail, said his publication does not track "every new wrinkle" in U.S. elections. But he said core readers in Britain want to know answers to basic questions, including who will be the next president and whether America is ready for a black, woman or Hispanic president.
Rupert Cornwell is Washington bureau chief for the London Independent, a job he's had for a total of 12 years since 1991. This is only the second presidential candidacy announcement he will have attended. The first was Bill Clinton's.
Obama, he said, "has some of the same appeal; a tremendously interesting candidate, but for all his potential still an unknown quantity. Also there's the Lincoln connection: an African-American launching his campaign in the home town of the president who abolished slavery."
"He's certainly caught the imagination in Britain," Cornwell wrote. "Also, there's the prospect of a fascinating battle with Hillary Clinton for the nomination."
Rita Siza is U.S. correspondent for Publico, the national daily newspaper of Portugal.
"(T)here's a huge interest and curiosity about Sen. Obama, and this is a very good chance to write something out of the ordinary Washington political story," Siza said.
"It's undeniable that Barack Obama already reached that rock star status that makes him an interesting subject for a very wide international audience," Siza added.
Obama seems to represent "a new generation of political leaders," she said, and people wonder about his strategy in the campaign in comparison to those of other candidates of both parties.
"Public opinion in Portugal is highly critical of the Iraq war and very suspicious of this administration," she said.
Philippe Gelie is U.S. bureau chief of Le Figaro, one of the leading daily newspapers in France. He has covered most presidential campaigns since 1992, but this will be his first trip to an announcement.
He's coming to Springfield, Gelie said, "because of the symbolism that Barack Obama himself intends to attach to the event and because it could be the starting point of a rising phenomenon of historic proportion."
"It has nothing to do with my assessment of Obama's chances to win the presidency (I have my doubts), but I think it's a great story."
Marc Crepin is Washington bureau chief for RadioFrance, which serves three national networks.
"Obama appeared in 2004 as a brilliant, rising star of American politics," Crepin said. "His style, his smile, his words have a real seduction power on French opinion. He embodies the American dream and make(s) French people remember Bill Clinton, J.F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King at the same time."
French people love to choose presidents for other countries, Crepin added, and Obama is one of their favorites.
Christoph von Marschall, Washington bureau chief for Der Tagesspiegel of Germany, said he often travels to events across the United States.
"Obama is special," Marschall said. "Germans are interested mainly in him and in Hillary, both for 'historical' reasons - the first African-American or the first woman in the White House.
"As you might know, Bush is not popular at all in Germany and in the whole of Europe, nor are the Republicans," Marschall said.
However, he also predicted that Germans might be disappointed if a Democrat actually wins the White House - Germans, in his view, exaggerate the differences between middle-of-the-road politicians in both parties in America.
Markus Ziener, Washington bureau chief for Handelsblatt, a German business daily, agreed there is "just a certain fascination that has to do with Obama."
U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain are well known, he said.
"But with Obama, that's a new, fresh face. ... He's something like a combination of John F. Kennedy and the American dream and something that has nothing to do with the Bushes and with the Clintons."
Bernard Schoenburg can be reached at 217-788-1540 or bernard.schoenburg@sj-r.com.
