14
LONDON — These could well be the most enthusiastic crowds Barack Obama has ever faced – entire cities full of people who overwhelmingly favour the Democratic presidential candidate. If only they could vote.
When Mr. Obama begins his European trip Friday, almost certainly starting with a huge fundraising gathering in London and climaxing with a mass speech at Berlin's historic Brandenburg Gate, he and the U.S. media will encounter a continent full of eager supporters, who favour him at least 5 to 1 over Republican John McCain.
But he will face quite a different reception from Europe's leaders. As Mr. Obama shuttles between London, Paris and Berlin (with a quick Middle East tour in the middle), he will meet politicians who do not quite know how to handle him.
For sure, every European leader and opposition figure, no matter how conservative, wants to grab a slice of Obamamania, and all are lining up to appear on camera with him. But there is a deep wariness among political advisers, who are telling their leaders to remain aloof.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama arrives at Midway International Airport in Chicago on Wednesday. (Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)
Related Articles
In part, this is because Mr. Obama's politics are still unknown, as are his chances of reaching the White House.
Mr. Obama's policies are also playing a role. In a major speech in Washington on Tuesday, he outlined a foreign policy that encouraged a much stronger role in Afghanistan, and specifically asked European countries to add more troops and take on riskier assignments within their NATO missions there, an issue that has long been a sore point among European governments. Others fear that Mr. Obama's trade policies might turn protectionist, hurting European interests.
In large part, diplomats and former advisers say, the leaders are facing a fear of the unknown.
Mr. Obama, who has reportedly spent only 24 hours in Europe during the past 10 years, is arriving at a moment when a more conservative Western Europe is turning away from anti-Americanism. He is also meeting leaders who do not know how to work with his policies.
Figures close to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in news briefings this week that he is avoiding anything that might seem like an endorsement of Mr. Obama, because it might damage relations with the Republicans and because Mr. Obama's policies might take a protectionist and anti-European turn.
This created space for the Conservative Opposition Leader, David Cameron, to step in and offer his own endorsement of Mr. Obama's policies. On Tuesday, Mr. Cameron told newspapers that he fully supports Mr. Obama's policies on the family, especially his view that black fathers should be pressed by government to take a stronger role in child-rearing. This has made the Tory Leader appear to be a much stronger Obama backer than the left-wing Prime Minister.
In Berlin, conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel's staff members have snubbed the Obama campaign more directly, suggesting that he does not have the right to speak at the Brandenburg Gate.
“To use the Brandenburg Gate in some way as a campaign backdrop – she has a limited sympathy for this and expresses her skepticism over pursuing such plans,” Ms. Merkel's spokesman Thomas Steg said at a news conference.
“It is unusual to hold election rallies abroad,” he added. “No German candidate for high office would even think of using the [National Mall in Washington] or Red Square in Moscow for a rally, because it would not be seen as appropriate.”
That received a heated rebuke from Ms. Merkel's left-wing governing partners, the Social Democrats, who loudly endorsed a speech from the historic gate, which once stood between East and West Germany and has come to symbolize the country's reunification. Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit, who controls access to the gate and is a Social Democrat, has not hesitated to endorse either Mr. Obama's speech or his candidacy.
Mr. Obama's challenge in France may be to avoid an overly positive reception.
The French media have reported that President Nicolas Sarkozy's staffers have been warned not to make their welcome seem too lavish or their admiration overly enthusiastic. France is, as always, an awkward topic among U.S. voters, especially among the Republican swing voters, whose favour Mr. Obama needs most.
The Democratic Party is still smarting over its most recent encounter with francophilia, when 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry's poll ratings began to plummet after it was revealed that he spoke French.
While Mr. Sarkozy is the most pro-American French president in decades, his appeal to voters in the U.S. rust-belt heartland is questionable. (Mr. Sarkozy also gave a warm embrace to Mr. McCain on the Republican candidate's European tour in March).
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has found quite another reason to snub Mr. Obama, who doesn't plan on visiting Italy.
In a news conference this week, Mr. Berlusconi, 71, said he is backing John McCain for a “very selfish reason.” If Mr. McCain wins, the Italian leader will no longer be the oldest of the G8 leaders, “because McCain is a month older than me.”
